Capitola Soquel Times: July 2023

Capitola Wharf Enhancement

By Jondi Gumz

On June 7, an enthusiastic crowd — more than 65 people — came out to give their input on how to enhance Capitola’s historic fishing wharf, which was cut in half by a wicked winter storm six months ago and is slated for repairs by the city this year.

Mike Sherrod of RRM Design Group explained the city work will focus on the most vulnerable areas, widen the wharf and add two permanent bathrooms replacing seasonal facilities.

... continues on page 4

MidPen Housing Eyes Affordable Rentals

A 2017 state law that created a $75 recording fee on real estate documents to fund affordable housing is providing Capitola with $481,732, which may be tapped by the nonprofit MidPen Housing to build 52 affordable rental apartments at 1098 38th Ave.

Full Story page 5

County Mental Health Underfunded, Understaffed Full Story page 22

Dad Makes a Deal

By Joe Ortiz

Dad dropped the newspaper and walked into the living room. Mom had only heard part of it, but the part she did hear, about cement buckets and “gangland” revenge must have gotten to her.

Full Story page 7

Cover Capitola Wharf Enhancement, By Jondi Gumz

Community News

5 MidPen Housing Eyes 52 Affordable Rentals at 1098 38th Ave.: Nonprofit Seeks Capitola Loan for Pre-development Costs, By Jondi Gumz

6 Dr. Lisa Hernandez to Return as County Health Officer

8 Cabrillo College Unveils Potential Names, By Jondi Gumz • Cabrillo College: 1,429 Grads: 51% Latinx; Veteran Transferring to Yale

9 Introducing the Heroine and Villain of Cabrillo Stage’s Hunchback of Notre Dame, By Mindy Pedlar • Name New Jade Street Playground

10 Meet New Fair Chief Zeke Fraser, By Jondi Gumz • Fairgrounds Resilience Centers Funding

11 Joby Aviation: New HQ & 1,500 Employees, By Jondi Gumz

16 Youth Resource Bank Meeting Needs of Our Children, By Jo Ann Allen

18 Dominican Pharmacy to Close, By Jondi Gumz • Jobs in Santa Cruz County

19 Lions Give $120,000 to Common Roots Farm • ‘Liability Claims Fund’ Aims to Boost Prescribed Burns

20 Townhomes in Soquel: $499,800

21 CruzAware Alert System Debuts • Q&A on CruzAware

22 Grand Jury: County Mental Health Underfunded, Understaffed

24 County Budget: $1.1 Billion

25 Soquel Creek Water Vacancy

27 Chromium 6 Rules: Comments Due Aug. 4, By Jondi Gumz

31 Dientes to Open Pioneer Street Dental Clinic July 5

In Memoriam

12 Ruth Solomon, Dance Teacher Extraordinaire: 1935-2023 • Former Capitola Mayor Tony Gualtieri: 1924-2023

Local Sports

15 Athletes of the Year: Dante Aranda-Pacheco and Quinn Healy • Wharf to Wharf Scholarship Winners!

Monthly Horoscope • Page 26 – Planets Guarding & Guiding

Humanity Each Day & Into the Night, By Risa D’Angeles

Community Calendar • Arts & Entertainment – Pages 28, 29

Featured Columnists

7 Dad Makes a Deal, By Joe Ortiz

25 WaterSmart Customer Portal Helps Detect Leaks & Track Use, By Rebecca Gold Rubin

30 CalAIM: Innovating MediCal, By Zach Friend, Supervisor, Second District

SCCAS Featured Pet • Page 31 – Sweet Cider

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Jondi Gumz

COVER STORY

contributing writers

Jondi Gumz, Mindy Pedlar, Jo Ann Allen, Risa D’Angeles, Joe Ortiz, Rebecca Gold Rubin, Zach Friend layout

Michael Oppenheimer graphic artists

Michael Oppenheimer

production coordinator

Camisa Composti

media consultants

Teri Huckobey, Brooke Valentine

office coordinator

Cathe Race distribution

Bill Pooley, Taylor Brougham

“Capitola Wharf” from page 1

Damaged piles supporting the wharf will be replaced by stronger fiberglass. The goal is to start construction, which could take eight months, this summer.

Two bids were received June 14. The apparent low bidder was Cushman Contracting Corp. of Santa Barbara with a base bid of $7,307,730. Capitola Public Works Project Manager Kailash Mozumder said due diligence is under way with plans to award the contract by July 14.

With this project moving forward, there’s been a lot of talk in the community about what other amenities could be added to make the wharf more attractive to visitors and locals alike. Think: Water stations, lighting, more comfortable benches.

McBroom, Scott McConville, Gayle Ortiz, Joe Palandrani and Richard Novak.

Most of them were in the room as Rudd and Morgane Staake of RRM Design Group passed out giant poster-size paper with photos illustrating potential ideas for Capitola.

Traditional or whimsical/colorful?

Coastal or perhaps modern?

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That led to creation of the Capitola Wharf Enhancement Project and a survey answered by more than 900 people — an impressive number for the city of 10,000, according to Debbie Rudd of RRM Design Group, who is working on the enhancement project.

Capitola local Gerry Jensen who is leading CWEP said $65,000 has already been raised privately toward the amenities.

The CWEP committee includes: Carrie Arnone, Vicki Guinn, Carin Hanna, Laurie Hill, Heidy Kellison, Christine

At each table in the New Brighton Middle School gym, attendees chatted for 20 minutes, then wrote down their ideas, and placed colored dots on their favorite themes.

They also were asked to pick three words to describe Capitola Wharf.

Traditional was a clear winner, with some votes for whimsical/colorful.

There was consensus: “No Southern California!”

Tucker Graessle, 17, a senior at Soquel High, reported his group came up with “charming coastal village.”

There was no shortage of ideas: Signs showing the way to the Wharf from the beach, binoculars to view wildlife in the bay, a defibrillator, showers for sandy feet, a fishing station for kids, access for strollers and wheelchairs, information on the wharf’s history, educational displays, rotating art exhibits, rotating food trucks, an aquarium, a slide, bike racks, a bronze sculpture, a snack shack for takeout food, a Christmas market, a sound system, taking advantage of solar energy,

“I’m delighted to be a part of this,” said Laurie Hill, an active volunteer with the Capitola Beach Festival Sept. 23-24. “This is exciting.”

This reporter, who was lucky enough to make a brief visit to Ascona, Switzerland, on Lake Maggiore, last year, suggested spelling out CAPITOLA in the sand, creating a photo opp with memories for any and all visitors. n

Photos Credit: Jondi Gumz

Cover Photo: Christine McBroom (left) of the Capitola Wharf Enhancement Project Committee.

Michael Oppenheimer, Camisa Composti

Michael Oppenheimer website

photography

Gayle Ortiz (center) is speaking during the Capitola Wharf Enhancement Project meeting.

Carolyn and Alan Cable

MidPen Housing Eyes 52 Affordable Rentals

at 1098 38th Ave.

Nonprofit Seeks Capitola Loan for Pre-development

By Jondi Gumz

A2017 state law that created a $75 recording fee on real estate documents to fund affordable housing is providing Capitola with $481,732, which may be tapped by the nonprofit MidPen Housing to build 52 affordable rental apartments at 1098 38th Ave.

The property, formerly the site of convalescent home Capitola Manor on nearly 2 acres, was sold in 2016 for $5.2 million.

MidPen Housing acquired the property on March 10, according to city staff, and approached City with a request for a $250,000 loan for predevelopment planning costs.

MidPen decided on a 100 % affordable multifamily project and hired Architects FORA of San Jose to design it.

The Capitola loan would be allocated this way: $200,000 for architectural design, $32,000 for civil and survey costs, and $19,800 in geotechnical reports and testing.

MidPen expects the City would consider providing additional funding in the future, according to Capitola Community Development Director Katie Herlihy.

MidPen has built rental apartments in Watsonville at two former farm labor camps and family apartments in Aptos, and is building multi-family housing at 1500 Capitola Road in Live Oak and at a former motel in Santa Cruz.

All of these are designed as 100% affordable.

Costs

In her staff report, Herlihy said Capitola options to fund a loan for predevelopment costs for affordable housing.

One is the Permanent Local Housing Allocation Fund created by Senate Bill 2, the Building Homes and Jobs Act . Another is the Housing Successor Agency (formerly Redevelopment) funds.

In May, Capitola was awarded $481,732 in PLHA funds for 2020-2022, which can be used for predevelopment, development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of multifamily, residential live-work, and rental housing that is affordable to extremely low-, very low-, low-, or moderate-income households, including necessary operating subsidies.

Capitola anticipates an award of $149,426 for 2023 and 2024.

In the first round, Santa Cruz County was awarded $1,811,203 and the city of Santa Cruz $452,837, Watsonville $1,546,047, Scotts Valley, $0.

Capitola also has about $2 million in the Housing Successor Agency fund due to a recent loan payoff.

These funds may be used toward new construction of an affordable housing development to households earning 80 percent or less of the area median income — $132,800 for a family of 4.

During the June 22 City Council meeting, MidPen will introduce their team and provide a conceptual overview of the proposed project. If there is conceptual support for the project, staff recommends the City Council direct staff to prepare a loan agreement for $250,000.

If a local government does not take advance of the funds for housing, the money revert to the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund for the state’s Multifamily Housing Program or for technical assistance to local governments. n

Dr. Lisa Hernandez to Return as County Health Officer

Dr. Lisa Hernandez, who was Santa Cruz County health officer from 2013 to 2016, will return to that position July 5 succeeding Dr. Gail Newel, pending approval by the Board of Supervisors.

Dr. Hernandez, who has 25 years of experience in medicine and public health, comes to Santa Cruz County from Berkeley where she was public health officer, leading the city’s pandemic response.

“I have great affection for Santa Cruz County and its residents,” said Hernandez. “I look forward to working with the community to improve the health and wellness of all County residents.”

She is bilingual and bicultural and the proud mother of two college-aged children. She and her husband are enjoying their newfound empty nest status.

Hernandez advocates for data-driven solutions to address population-level health concerns, such as health disparities and unequal healthcare access, and has a deep interest in public health preparedness and communicable disease prevention. Health Services Agency Director Mónica Morales said Hernandez is “an ideal health officer for the County of Santa Cruz.”

Before coming to Berkeley, she was deputy health officer and infectious disease and response branch director for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department for a year-and-a-half.

“Hernandez” page 9

Dr. Lisa Hernandez

Dad Makes a Deal

Last episode: Mom made pasta and lentils but Dad insisted on having her make him Arroz con Pollo.

•••

Dad dropped the newspaper and walked into the living room. Mom had only heard part of it, but the part she did hear, about cement buckets and “gangland” revenge must have gotten to her.

“Herman,” she said, walking out of the kitchen with a spoonful of rice in her hand. “I wish you wouldn’t read those kinda things around Joey.”

Dad looked over at me and Laura and mumbled, “I thought Freddie said he’d give Eddie a broken arm.”

“HERMAN!” Ma said.

“Nothing.”

Dad stared out the window, smoking his cigarette, hugging himself around his shoulders as if he had chills. When Mom finally got Dad to budge, we sat down to a plate of arroz con pollo with pasta lenticchie. To serve it Mom put a big mound of cooked fried rice on a plate, and then put the crispy pieces of chicken on top. Next to the rice she ladled a big helping of the lentils. It tasted good, but felt a little odd, for more reasons than the strange combination. It was my first Italia-Rican meal.

Dad was quiet for a few days. He wasn’t cracking any jokes. He wasn’t singing “Oh, say can you see any bedbugs on me” like he always did. Even when a pretty lady walked by, he wouldn’t nudge me with his elbow and make that clicking sound out of the side of his mouth.

Even though Dad had been pretty quiet about the whole mess, he reminded Laura and me that, from now on, we didn’t call Federico “Freddie,” nor refer to his mother’s soup as pasta fagioli; instead, it was “Federico” and “pasta fazool.” And we listened.

After a week or so, he came back to life, but he didn’t mention a word about Eddie. Not to anyone.

One day after school, Dad and I were in the shoe shop; Dad was out front, while I was in back cutting out pieces of leather. Freddie the bookie came in. “Federico,” I mean.

“Herman, goomba. How’s d’ shoes y’ promised me?”

“Dey’re ready,” Dad said. “I put the new heels on and gave ‘em another spit shine. And dey’re ready ta go.”

“But Herman,” Federico said. “You’re sure this guy won’t be back to pick up his shoes?”

“Trust me,” Dad said. “This guy’s never comin’ back.”

That was all Federico needed to hear. There was a code that no explanations were necessary in certain circumstances. This was one of them. As long as Federico didn’t ask — Herman didn’t say a word. He also didn’t ask Freddie about Eddie, the broken arm, the revenge.

He didn’t want to know.

“How much is it gonna cost me, Herman?”

“Fagetaboutit,” Dad said. “I’m doing it for nuthin’.”

“Herman, no.”

“I already made so much dough on doze shoes,” Dad said, “It’s criminal ...” But the minute the word came out of his mouth, Dad backpedaled. “I mean, Federico, everything you’ve done for me ...”

“No, Herman, I can’t,” Federico said. “How about if I put ten dollars down as a bet for you. Tomorrow’s the big game.”

He was talking about the one-game playoff for the National League Pennant between the Giants and the Dodgers. Everyone was eager to watch the game because no one on this side of the East River cared about the Yankees, they were either a Giants fan or a Dodgers fan.

“There’s a lot of money riding on this one, Herman.”

“Okay Freddie, whatever you say.”

“So, ten on the Dodgers?”

“No, I’m going with New York, not Brooklyn,” Dad said “Herman?”

“I got a hunch about dis one,” Dad said.

“But Herman, the Dodgers are your team. You must’ve lost 500 bucks in the past couple years.”

“I know,” Dad said. “Dey’re bums. Put da twenty on da Giants.”

“Ten, Herman!”

“Oh, sure Freddie, but I thought maybe, since ...“

“Shut up, Herman. It’s ten.”

“Sure Freddie, sure.”

“Okay, Herman,” Freddie said. “But ya know you get in trouble bettin’ against your own team. It’s like betting against ya family. Sicilians don’t like that. I don’t know how you Puerto Ricans are.”

“Don’t axe me ta ‘splain it,” Dad said.

So, for once Dad had the last word. n

•••

Pasta Lenticchie: Macaroni & Lentils

Serves four

This is a classic lentil dish with pasta, a kind of poor man’s Minestrone—flavorful and meaty tasting. Mom never used meat, though.

I tried making it with chopped bacon once, but it was all wrong. It disguised the earthy taste of the legumes. Serve it in soup bowls by itself or next to Arroz con Pollo for a true Italia-Rican meal.

1 bag of lentils (12 ounces)

2 quarts water

1 bay leaf

By Joe Ortiz

2 teaspoons salt

¾ cup olive oil

1 carrot, minced

1 stalk celery, diced fine

1 medium yellow onion, minced fine 2 cups chicken broth (in Basilicata and Long Island we just used water!!!)

1 cup tubetinni pasta (some folks call it macaroni-salad pasta or tubetti)

Rinse the lentils and cook in the water along with one of the teaspoons of salt and the bay leaf.

Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer 20 minutes until the lentils are tender.

Discard the bay leaf. Drain the water and reserve both water and lentils separately.

Heat the oil in a skillet, and sauté the carrot, celery, and onion until translucent and aromatic. Add the remaining one teaspoon salt to taste, and 2 to 3 ladles full of the cooked lentils.

Cook over low heat and mash some of the lentils into a paste with a large wooden spoon.

Add this mixture back into the lentil pot along with enough of the reserved water (or the chicken broth) to make a soupy mixture.

Add the pasta and cook 8 to 10 minutes until pasta is done. (The soup can be thinned with some of the reserved water to your liking.)

Serve immediately. Or when cool, place in the fridge covered overnight and reheat the next day.

Joe Ortiz Memoir: Episodes & Recipes

Joe Ortiz’s memoir, Pastina — My Father’s Misfortune, My Mother’s Good Soup, became the framework for the musical Escaping Queens, which ran at Cabrillo Stage in 2012 and 2013. Since 2022, the Capitola Soquel Times is the exclusive publication of various episodes from the book — including a recipe that helps shape each installment. You may have read one of the pieces in the Times a few months ago entitled, “Pastina, Food for the Soul — The Night Freddie the Bookie Showed Up with the Gun.”

The idea of weaving anecdotes about food with an ongoing narrative came to Joe after reading Heartburn by Nora Ephron.

“Using recipe descriptions to help tell a story seemed the perfect way to weave the angst of a father’s chaotic life with the salvation of a mother’s cooking,” Ortiz explains. “For me, the soothing aromas and descriptions of my mom’s food became the salve to assuage my father’s abusive actions, and the ironic humor of it all helped to dull the pain.” n

Cabrillo College Unveils Potential Names

By Jondi Gumz

On June 14, Cabrillo College leaders, which since 2020 have thought about a name change, unveiled five possibilities at an in-person forum on campus: Aptos College, Cajastaca (it means jackrabbit) College, Costa Vista (view of the sea) College, Santa Cruz Coast College, Seacliff College.

More than 60 people attended, writing their reactions on sticky notes and placing dots to signify their No. 1, No.2 and No. 3 choices.

One attendee nixed Seacliff, writing that it sounds like a resort.

Donna Mekis favored Santa Cruz Coast because “everyone knows Santa Cruz.”

Cabrillo art teacher Tobin Keller liked the symbolism of Cajastaca.

To those objecting to Cajastaca as hard to pronounce, Cabrillo trustee Steve Trujillo said, “It’s good to learn pronunciation of new words.”

Terry Sterling favored Aptos College. “It represents the people,” he said. But Sandy Lydon, longtime history teacher at Cabrillo, pointed out, “We’re in Soquel, not Aptos.”

Becky Steinbrunner voiced support to keep the name Cabrillo.

Students and faculty proposed a change, saying Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Spanish navigator who led the first European expedition exploring the California coast and became wealthy as a slave-owner in Guatemala, is not a role model for today’s students.

More than half the graduates in the Cabrillo College class of 2023 have Latino heritage.

The college acknowledges that some who oppose the board’s decision to change the name, while pointing out it is for future Cabrillo College students, to make the college a place where all students feel welcome

When the college asked for suggestions, some 1,500 voiced an opinion. Of that number, 383 favored Cabrillo, according to Terrence Willett, Cabrillo’s dean of research.

Two more in-person forums are scheduled to hear public input: 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, June 28, at Cabrillo’s Watsonville campus, 318 Union St., Room A-160,

and 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, at Felton Library, 6121 Gushee St., Felton.

At the forum, Cabrillo College Board Name Exploration Subcommittee member Christina Cuevas explained the process. Cabrillo President-Superintendent Matt Wetstein was on hand to answer questions.

Cuevas and board president Adam Spickler have served on the subcommittee leading the name exploration process.

A task force with 24 community members chose the five names for consideration out of 350 suggestions.

The task force will meet July 28 to

decide what to recommend to the governing board, which meets at 6:15 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Watsonville center, 318 Union St., Watsonville. That recommendation should appear in the agenda, which is to be posted on Aug. 3.

Local residents can add their input via SurveyMonkey using the QR code at left. n •••

Cabrillo College has made a pledge to not spend public funds on costs associated with the name change. Supporters of a new name can donate at www.cabrillo.edu/governing-board/ name-exploration-subcommittee/.

Cabrillo College: 1,429 Grads: 51% Latinx; Veteran Transferring to Yale

On May 26, Cabrillo College honored 1,429 graduates and 295 transfer students in an in-person graduation ceremony at Carl Conelly Stadium — grads who met their goal despite the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the CZU wildfire, despite flooding.

For the third straight year in the college’s 64-year history, more than half the graduating class — 51% — was Latinx.

Among those recognized: Veteran Thomas Ghio, who was accepted into Yale University as a transfer student. At Yale, he will study molecular biophysics and biochemistry, to prepare for medical school on his way to becoming a surgeon.

“Reflecting on my Cabrillo experience, one aspect that truly stands out is my invaluable interactions with the faculty and staff,” said Ghio. “When I joined Cabrillo in spring of 2021, it was

evident that the teachers and counselors were genuinely invested in their students’ success. Their dedication and support played a significant role in shaping my academic journey over the past five semesters.”

This year, Cabrillo awarded 1,117 A.A.

degrees and 494 A.S. degrees. In addition, 292 students will graduate with an Associate’s Degree for Transfer (AA-T/AS-T).

Students who earn this degree and meet the California State University minimum eligibility requirements are guaranteed admission to a CSU.

Noteworthy: 61% of the AA-T/AS-T recipients at this federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution are Latinx.

“I’m incredibly proud of our students,” said Cabrillo College President and Superintendent Dr. Matt Wetstein. “For the third year in a row, 51% of our graduates are Latinx, and this year, 61% of our students earning associates degrees for transfer into a CSU are Latinx, meaning they are transferring at a higher rate. Additionally, to have a student veteran accepted into Yale University, where the transfer acceptance rate is .08%, is monumental. There are so many milestones to celebrate this year!”

Cabrillo graduates also earned 309 certificates of achievement and 156 skills certificates.

“Class of 2023” page 10

Student Trustee Devinè Hardy

Introducing the Heroine and Villain of Cabrillo Stage’s Hunchback of Notre Dame

By Mindy Pedlar

Every good show needs a good villain!

Ours is played by the remarkably talented David Murphy.

He describes his character, the Archdeacon Dom Claude Frollo, as “a terrifyingly cruel person who, at his core, believes he is completely and fundamentally right. From burning Paris to burning people, he has a divine justification for everything he does and truly doesn’t view himself or his actions as the problem.”

In playing such a sinister character, David acknowledges the challenge of making Frollo human.

“It would be way too easy to twirl the mustache, drop the voice, and make Frollo just evil incarnate throughout the entirety of the show,” he said. “He consistently does terrible things, but there are a few, brief moments where he exposes just the slightest bit of humanity.”

David continued: “I think leaning into those moments and finding places where he tries to justify his actions in a way that normal people might relate to, understand, or slightly sympathize with will ever-soslightly raise him up, making his resulting fall even more impactful. Frollo’s singular goal is to escape damnation; and in doing so, he acts in plenty of ways that would no doubt ensure it. He is, of course, oblivious

to that fact, which is where the fun of playing such a character lies.”

David has a deep rich voice and his rendition of the song “Hellfire” is amazing. Still, his favorite song in the show is the finale, “both for the beauty of its message and the sheer ‘whoomph’ you get as an audience member when every single actor and choir member unleashes all the sound they can give. That’s part of what makes Hunchback such a fun show to be a part of, or watch; you can’t escape that tingle you get when the Wall of Sound spins up!”

As for our heroine, enter Kristi Garcia, the powerful actress playing Esmeralda, whom she describes as “a spitfire and a force of nature. She appears confident, but knows what it feels like to be an outcast. She is deeply compassionate, emotionally intelligent, and she isn’t afraid to speak up about injustice.”

Kristi feels a connection to her character saying, “We are both hyperindependent women who have difficulty holding our tongues, but always speak with good intent. Esmeralda’s outspokenness comes from a deep-seated need to call out the injustice she sees. Storytelling gives a voice to those in our society who may not have one by shedding light on the injustice they are forced to endure. I once

Name New Jade Street Playground

The City of Capitola is developing a universally accessible playground at Jade Street Park. The conceptual playground design will be finalized this summer, and a fundraising campaign will kick off later this year.

Local community members are invited to submit a name for the playground. Suggestions will be accepted through Aug. 31.

“Hernandez” from page 6

She oversaw the Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Program, Immunization and Travel Clinic, and the Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic. She provided guidance and direction for public health preparedness, the Public Health Pharmacy, and the Public Health Laboratory.

Before coming to Santa Cruz, she was the health officer/Director of Public Health

A committee made up of County Park Friends staff, City of Capitola staff, and community representatives will determine the “top 3” to be sent to the City Council for their ultimate discussion and approval in the fall. n

•••

To submit a name, see www.countypark friends.org/

for the Monterey County Public Health Department.

She has a bachelor’s degree from Yale University, a doctorate of medicine from Georgetown University School of Medicine, and a master of public health from the UC Berkeley. She had medical residencies in obstetrics and gynecology and another in preventive medicine.

Newel is to retire in July to provide a transition period. n

had a director tell me I had ‘moxie,’ and that is exactly how I’d describe Esmeralda.”

Kristi will melt your heart with her beautifully sung rendition of “God Help The Outcasts” which many will remember from Disney’s version of this story.

However, as an actress Kristi most enjoys performing “Someday,” the emotionally moving ballad shared between Esmeralda and Phoebus. She feels the song “so exquisitely captures the desperation and the hope we feel to someday see a fairer world.”

Don’t miss this glorious musical that entertains, inspires and tugs at your heartstrings, July 6 through July 30. All performances are in the Crocker Theater on the Cabrillo College campus in Aptos. n

Tickets available online at cabrillostage. com. Box Office now open for phone and walk in sales, Thursday–Saturdays 12-6 p.m.,

831-479-6154. Special opening night discount $10.00 off general or premiere seating Friday, July 7, with the promo code TheBells. $20 student rush tickets available at the box office 30 minutes before curtain (excludes Sunday matinees). Group discounts for 10 or more available on the website.

Katie Garcia twirls as Esmeralda with dance captain and actor Katherine Bonn

Meet New Fair Chief Zeke Fraser

By Jondi Gumz

At a special meeting June 6, the Santa Cruz County Fair board hired Zeke Fraser, 51, of Santa Cruz, as the new manager.

His first day was Monday, June 12. His pay is $8,135 a month.

With the 2023 Santa Cruz County Fair coming up Sept. 13-17 at the fairgrounds in Watsonville, he plans to meet with volunteers, staff and community members and work to make this year’s event a success.

“We are the odd collision of art and agriculture, surf and turf, mountains and sea,” he said in an announcement of his hiring. “Where else can you buy fresh grown strawberries in the morning, spend the day at the beach, and then take a train ride through the redwoods?”

Fraser comes from FileOpen Systems, the document rights company on the Santa Cruz Westside, where he was director of operations.

“Zeke worked with FileOpen for 12 years,” said co-founder Sanford Bingham. “He was our first hire in Santa Cruz when the company moved here from New York. He’s an organizer, a planner, and an honest communicator; a natural leader. The County Fair could not have made a better choice.”

Zeke is married to Staci Fraser, and they’ve lived in Santa Cruz County since 1995. Both are California natives.

They don’t have children, and Zach has extended family living elsewhere in California.

He told Aptos Times, “As far as hobbies go, I enjoy hiking and camping, and I enjoy fiddling around with creating tabletop/card games — not many have made it off the drawing board, but that’s why it’s a hobby.”

Fraser is a UCLA grad. He worked at Washington Mutual Bank for eight years as financial services officer, departing in 2002 for Santa Cruz Mortgage Co. as operations manager for four years.

Next he went to Coast Lending Group in Soquel as director of mortgage banking for close to three years. Then he joined Borelli Investment, a property management company in San Jose, for a year-and-a-half as staff accountant before taking the FileOpen job in Santa Cruz.

On his LinkedIn bio, he claims “a strong focus on empowering teams to excel in fastpaced, highly demanding environments.”

He describes his leadership style as collaborative, based on his belief that “collaboration is the key to success.”

He also mentions his proficiency in customer relations management systems and other database systems and his background in commercial banking operations, mortgage operations, and software development operations.

He is certified as a Quickbooks Proadvisor with competency in bookkeeping and accounting.

“I am a fast learner,” he writes, with

“passion for learning new skills/concepts and adapting to new procedures.”

On LinkedIn, people say Fraser has a “can do” attitude, and admirable work ethic and is meticulous when it comes to business operations.

Fraser succeeds Ken Alstott, hired in April as interim manager. He will be the fourth person in charge of the county fair and fairgrounds since October.

“Fraser” page 20

Fairgrounds Resilience Centers Funding

Thestate Department of Food & Agriculture has awarded more than $88 million to 12 fairgrounds for upgrades such as kitchens, heating and air conditioning, showers and related improvements for sheltering people and animals in times of need.

The Santa Cruz County Fair will get $150,000 to upgrade the historic livestock barns that the state had deemed unstable and unusable for the 2022 fair.

The funding for “resiliency centers” was included in the 2021-22 state budget.

Work is to begin in late summer.

A committee that identified selection criteria consisted of CDFA, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the California Department of Social Services, and representatives of the fairgrounds industry (including California Construction Authority, the joint powers authority in charge of construction at fairgrounds).

•••

3rd DAA Silver Dollar Fair, Butte County: New event center & Jack Vanella Hall upgrade $30,000,000

24th DAA Tulare County Fair: Building

1 & 2 Demolition and Rebuild, Building 3 upgrade Completion $11,000,000

24th DAA Kings Fair: Fairgrounds-wide infrastructure upgrades $3,500,000

26th DAA Amador County Fair: Windmill Restaurant/commissary kitchen upgrade & multi-purpose concession stands $1,500,000

27th DAA Shasta District Fair: Trinity Hall upgrades & new community kitchen $4,000,000

28th DAA San Bernardino County Fair: Building 1 & 2 upgrades $6,000,000

35th DAA Merced County Fair: Yosemite Hall upgrades & pavilion reroof $5,000,000

50th DAA Antelope Valley Fair, Lost Angeles County: New Marcc campus, emergency operations centers, and culinary facility $20,000,000

California Exposition & State Fair, Sacramento County: Restrooms in livestock srea, HVAC at Expo Center, replacement of fabric tent on Building D $7,000,000

10th DAA Siskiyou Golden Fair: Fairgrounds Broadband upgrade $100,000

14th DAA Santa Cruz County Fair: Livestock Barns upgrade $150,000

20th DAA Gold Country Fair: Placer Hall HVAC upgrade $250,000

“Class of 2023” from page 8

The Class of 2023 comprises graduates ranging in age from 15 to 77 years, with an average age of 27.

The class was 63% female and 36% male.

The Class of 2023 contains a record 273 students graduating with a 4.0 grade-point average, a 39% increase over last year.

And 214 students graduated with high honors (3.75-3.99 GPA), 240 students with honors (3.5-3.74 GPA) and 496 students with honorable mention (3.0-3.49 GPA).

A notable 65 students graduated or transferred as part of the Honors Transfer Program, a learning community for highly motivated students seeking rigorous academic coursework in a supportive and cooperative environment.

Of those 65 students, 37 graduated as Honors Scholars, having completed at least

15 units of honors courses with a minimum 3.4 transferable GPA.

And 22 students were certified for the UCLA Transfer Alliance Program (TAP), which gives priority admission into the UCLA College of Letters and Sciences for fall 2023.

In addition there were seven UC Irvine Honors-to-Honors students.

Students are transferring to competitive universities, which include (with information to date): Yale University, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, with others awaiting decisions from NYU and Stanford University.

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Award is given each year to a Cabrillo graduate in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields. This year’s recipient is Marlize Velasco, one of Cabrillo’s UCLA TAP-certified students. Marlize

is transferring to UC Santa Cruz, and majoring in politics.

At the ceremony, she urged kindness and added: “Keep pushing forward even when the odds are against you.”

President of the Student Senate Denisa Rozsypalova, a Czech student living in California, cited the challenges of the pandemic.

Student Trustee Devinè Hardy, a non-traditional student motivated by the pandemic shutdown to return to college and finish her degree, said, “Always know your why.” One of her whys is advocating for those who have no voice.

The UC Santa Cruz Karl S. Pister award is an up to $20,000 scholarship given to a Cabrillo Student planning to transfer to UCSC. This year’s winner: Tymothie Hale, who is majoring in psychology.

The ceremony began with a processional of the Governing Board, faculty, and staff, and

members of the Graduating Class of 2023, followed by a welcome from Vice President of Student Services Amy Lehman-Sexton. The Cabrillo Chorale, under the direction of Cheryl Anderson, sang the national anthem as well as Cielito Lindo (Lovely Sky). Wetstein, as president, gave congratulatory remarks, as did Cabrillo Faculty Senate President Anna Zagorska, and Cabrillo Classified Employees Union Second Vice President Ariba Alston-Williams.

Dr. Robin McFarland, interim vice president of instruction, presented the graduating class and Cabrillo Board President Adam Spickler conferred the degrees and certificates. n

To view the ceremony, see www.cabrillo. edu/events/graduation-ceremony/ or Cabrillo’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=CF-mVv_qgRY

Zeke Fraser

Joby Aviation: New HQ & 1,500 Employees

By Jondi Gumz

From an idea to a startup to 1,500 employees with the headquarters in Santa Cruz – that’s the story of JoeBen Bevirt, co-founder of Joby Aviation, the company that promises to deliver electric air taxis that could eliminate highway congestion.

On June 5, the Santa Cruz Chamber

of Commerce hosted a grand opening for Joby Aviation at 345 Encinal St., Santa Cruz, formerly home to Plantronics, famous for creating headsets for astronauts and then cornering the headset market.

Juliane Farrand, Joby Aviation’s head of people, called it “our dream location.”

Joby Aviation bought the property, where the buildings date to 1959, last November for $25.5 million.

More than 100 guests showed up including Bruce Delgado, mayor of Marina, where Joby Aviation is developing a worldclass manufacturing facility with the help of Latina seamstresses who fabricate parts of the vehicle.

Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley pointed out Bevirt’s parents, Ron and Paula, owned the Hip Pocket Books, the predecessor to Bookshop Santa Cruz.

Keeley is grateful that Bevirt, who grew up off the grid north of Davenport and went to Stanford, “opted to stay home with this brilliant idea.”

The mayor predicted, “It’s going to be game-changing.”

He declared June 5 as Joby Aviation Day.

Hiring is ongoing for this audacious undertaking.

“We’re more than 1,500 people around

the world,” Bevirt said. “It’s really special for us to inherit this facility … We hope to be able to do our part.”

“Joby Aviation” page 16

Joby Aviation T-shirts add to the ambiance of the new HQ.

The ribbon cutting with Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley next to Joby Aviation founder JoeBen Bevirt.

Ruth Solomon, Dance Teacher Extraordinaire

Ruth Rosenheim Solomon was born on June 10, 1935, in New York City. She attended the High School of Music and Art, where she specialized in design and graduated second in her class, with every expectation of attending the Rhode Island School of Design.

Much to her chagrin she was denied acceptance, having fallen victim of the school’s “Jewish quota.”

Fortunately, her mother had somehow discovered then-tiny Bard College, 70 miles north of the City, on the Hudson River. There she majored in drama, but made what turned out to be one of the most important acquaintances of her life, Jean Erdman, an ex-member of the original Martha Graham Company, who was teaching modern dance at the college.

Ruth had studied dance (mostly ballet) from the age of 6, so the transition to that discipline was a natural one. It was also a lasting one, as dance remained the primary focus of Ruth’s life to its very end.

The other important acquaintance made at Bard was John Solomon, who, in 1960, became her husband, a relationship that lasted for 63 years and produced two children. They lived in Soquel.

As a performer Ruth Solomon appeared on and off Broadway, on television, and

1935-2023

in concerts throughout the United States, Canada, and Japan. She was for many years a permanent member and solo dancer with the Jean Erdman Dance Theater, and more briefly a “swing dancer” — i.e., one whose responsibility is to know and be ready to perform all cast roles — with the original Broadway production of “West Side Story.”

Ruth created more than 60 works in her unique version of the modern dance idiom, in addition to staging and choreographing such diverse musical/dramatic productions as Euripides’ Hecuba, Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat, and Brecht’s Three Penny Opera.

From 1967 to 1970 she was assistant director of the dance program at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. She then directed the dance program that she established in Theater Arts at the University of California, Santa Cruz, the new College Five (now Porter College) until her retirement in 1995.

Her highly successful teaching technique was documented in an hour-long video, Anatomy as a Master Image in Training Dancers. After appearing as an invited speaker at the Olympic Scientific Congress in Seoul, South Korea (1988), she taught in Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and Japan (1990-2002). She was also a guest teacher on numerous college and university campuses in the U.S.

Her articles on dance performance, administration, and pedagogy appeared in Dance Magazine, Dance Teacher Now,

1924-2023

Born on May 19, 2024, in Natural Bridge, Va., to Gilda and Frank Gualtieri, Tony Gualtieri and his family moved to Staten Island, N.Y., where he attended Curtis High School and the City College of New York.

When World War II broke out, he enlisted in the Army and was sent to Stanford University for training as a medical doctor. Graduating in 1947, he took his internship and residency at Santa Clara County Hospital. He opened a medical office in Los Gatos until 1957, when he sought additional training in surgery at Washington University, St. Louis.

On returning to San Jose, he spent the next 17 years working as a plastic surgeon. After closing his practice in 1978, he became a medical consultant for the Board of Medical Quality Assurance in San Mateo and later served as the board’s chief medical consultant in Sacramento.

Retiring in 1991 to Capitola, Tony ran for the City Council in 1996 at age

Kinesiology and Medicine for Dance, and various other periodicals.

Around 1980, she began asking why dancers had back and knee problems and needed hip replacements. She delved into dance medicine and attended night classes at Cabrillo College to become a certified medical assistant.

Her research in dance medicine produced publications in such medical journals as The Physician and Sports Medicine and The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

“Solomon” page 14

72 and was elected. He was re-elected in 2000. He was twice chosen mayor. He also served as city treasurer.

He died June 5, 2023, not long after celebrating his 99th birthday.

He leaves Kathryn, his wife of 42 years, a history buff, and author of the Nora Finnegan mystery series, his daughter Anna, stepchildren Kathleen and Dan Levine, Bill and Kelly Kaiser, six grandchildren Luc and Jake Levine, Reese and Avery Kaiser, Ashlin and Jackson Bird, his sister Iris (Jay) Andre of San Jose, and nieces and nephews. A private burial was at Los Gatos Memorial Park. n

Former Capitola Mayor Tony Gualtieri

Tony Gualtieri

Ruth Solomon

www.wudangdaoism.com

Now

“Solomon” from page 12

Her most extensive books are Prevention of Injuries in the Young Dancer (Springer International Publications 2017), Preventing Dance Injuries (Second Edition, Human Kinetics Books, 2005), Soviet-American Dance Medicine 1990 (AAHPERD Press, 1991), The New Faces of Dance Scholarship (AAHPERD Press, 1992), and East Meets West in Dance: Voices in the Cross-Cultural Dialogue (Gordon and Breach/Routledge Press, 1995).

The nineth edition of her Dance Medicine & Science Bibliography, covering the literature in the field for the last 60 years and containing 5,833 citations, became available in January, 2023.

Some of her latest publications include: “Chronic Lower-Leg Compartment Syndrome in Young Athletes” (American Journal of Sports Medicine), “Arthroscopic Debridement of Hip Labral Tears in Dancers,” “Neurologic Back Injuries in Dancers,” a chapter in Sports Neurology (Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott-Raven Publishers), “Psychological Issues in Dance Medicine” (a two-part Special Issue of the Journal of Dance Medicine & Science), and “Publications in Dance Medicine and Science: A Bibliographer’s Perspective” (Medical Problems of Performing Artists).

She was the National Dance Association’s “Scholar of the Year” for 1992, “Dance Professional of the Year” (1998), and “Heritage Honoree” (2003).

She served on the board of directors of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS) from its inception in 1990 to 2010, and in 2007 was elected co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Dance Medicine & Science, and continued to serve in that capacity until 2021.

She did annual three-month “residencies” under the direction of Dr. Lyle Micheli at the Division of Sports Medicine, Harvard Medical Center, Boston, for 39 consecutive years, until the onset of COVID. During these residencies she conducted several major dance medicine studies with dancers of the Boston Ballet.

In 2010 she was named Honorary

Fellow of the Division of Sports Medicine, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical Center. In 2017 she became a Fellow of IADMS, and was given “A Lifetime Achievement Award” by that organization.

She died on June 12 in Santa Cruz. Betsy Fisher posted photos on Facebook with these comments, “What a career. What a powerhouse” — and Tandy Beal reposted.

See Ruth Solomon’s Nov. 9, 2021 lecture on dance and injury prevention on YouTube.

Ruth Solomon was a bundle of energy who brought her many talents to all aspects of the field of dance. For this she was rewarded with a good deal of admiration on both personal and institutional levels. She was a perfectionist who demanded the absolute best of herself and others, yet was able to do this in such a way as to develop lasting friendships with both her students and peers. Her many contributions will not soon be forgotten. n

Editor’s note: During the pandemic, locals could see Ruth Solomon walking down Old San Jose Road in Soquel picking up garbage. She would walk two miles down, cross the road, then walk two miles back, picking up trash along the way.

Traditional Daoist Kungfu, Taiji, and Qigong.

Classes held at the Tannery in downtown Santa Cruz & at Jade Street Park in Capitola

enrolling students for weekly group and private classes in Santa Cruz

Contact for information on class times and registration wudangdaoism.info@gmail.com

Athletes of the Year

Dante Aranda-Pacheco and Quinn Healy

In 1976-77, in the inaugural year of the Santa Cruz County Athletic League, the Santa Cruz Sentinel sports writers established the Santa Cruz County Male & Female Athlete of the Year Award. They discontinued the award in 2021.

In 2023, the athletic directors of the league brought back the award. Every SCCAL school has unlimited nominations, and then the SCCAL athletic directors select the winners.

Under the new criteria, the nominees must be from an SCCAL school, and must be a senior.

This year’s winners are:

Quinn Healy, Soquel High: Water Polo SCCAL Player of the Year, CCS Player

of the Year, led Soquel girls to the CCS Open Division championship and Nor Cal runner up.

Swimming SCCAL champion in 200 & 400 freestyle relays, 2nd place in 50 freestyle, 3rd place in 100 breast. CCS 12th place in 200 free relay, 13th place in 400 free relay.

Grade-point average 4.3 weighted, 3.9 unweighted

Quinn will attend Stanford and play water polo in the fall.

Dante Aranda-Pacheco, Aptos High: 1st-team Pacific Coast Athletic League running back in football, member of league championship football team, league champ at 220 lbs. in wrestling (9th in CCS), also plays lacrosse.

Dante will attend San Jose City College to further his education. n

Wharf to Wharf Scholarship Winners!

Congratulations to the 2023 Wharf to Wharf Scholarship recipients!

Wharf to Wharf Race Inc. annually awards four scholarships to distinguished local scholar-athletes who will compete in track and field or cross country at the collegiate level.

The Howard Marcus Scholarship is a $12,000 scholarship awarded to two athletes who excel in both academics and athletics with plans to compete at a 4-year university.

The Otis Chandler Scholarship is a $6,000 scholarship awarded to two athletes who excel in both academics and athletics with plans to compete at a 2- or 4-year college or university.

•••

2023 Otis Chandler Scholarship recipients

• Brody Staley, Soquel High | Chico State

• Julia Snelling, Soquel High | Colorado College

2023 Howard Marcus Scholarship recipients

• Trent Nosky, Aptos High | Colorado State

• Brooke Willoughby, Aptos High | Long Beach State

This year’s Wharf to Wharf Race, featuring 16,000 runners and more than 50 bands, will be the morning of Sunday, July 23, from Santa Cruz to Capitola. Capitola Village will be closed to traffic from 5 a.m. to noon. n

Brody Staley | Julia Snelling

Quinn Healy

Dante Aranda -Pacheco

Youth Resource Bank Meeting Needs of Our Children

By Jo Ann Allen

The Santa Cruz County Youth Resource Bank gathered at the beautiful outdoor courtyard of Bargetto Winery on a sunny Saturday afternoon in late spring for their annual fundraiser.

Guests received a complimentary YRB

logo glass, a beverage of their choosing, and grazed on a large assortment of charcuterie catered by Carla Martinez of The Wild Bite. Musical entertainment was provided by the ever-popular local duo Ripatti & Rose along with special guest youth performers, Leilani Winkler, and Ronan Mai.

Sen. John Laird’s office presented the Youth Resource Bank with a recognition certificate for supporting the needs of children and youth in Santa Cruz County.

The Youth Resource Bank Honorable Thomas Black award was presented to Nathan Benjamin of Benjamin/Leibrock Law for his 20 years of service with the YRB.

More than 125 guests mixed and mingled while bidding on 75 silent auction packages and eight live auction items that included a sail on the Chardonnay, an African photo safari, a condo in Maui,

“Joby

The technology the company uses is called EVTOL, which stands for Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing Vehicle. You’ll be hearing a lot more about it. Joby Aviation is gearing up to launch the ride-sharing air taxi service in 2024. n

Photos Credit: Jondi Gumz •••

RIGHT: Eric Bayona in the former Plantronics building, which showcase photos of the new electric taxi and a wall of signatures of Koby Aviation employees.

LOWER RIGHT: A large crowd attends the grand opening of Joby Aviation.

BELOW: JoeBen Bevirt’s parent Ron and Paula, attend the grand opening in Joby Aviation logo jackets.

Aviation” from page 11

Musical Duo Ripatti and Rose.

accommodations in Lake Tahoe, a private evening of candy-making at Marini’s at the Beach and so much more.

Guests who were not winners of an auction item opened their hearts to the numerous stories shared throughout the afternoon and became angel donors with cash contributions.

Thanks to our sponsors, auction donors, and attendees, we raised over $30,000, of which 98.99% goes directly to meet the needs of Santa Cruz County’s children and youth.

The Santa Cruz County Youth Resource Bank is a 501c 3 nonprofit all-volunteer organization working with professionals in

our community (social workers, teachers, and public health nurses) to meet the needs of vulnerable children and youth in Santa Cruz County.

Since its incorporation in 1988, YRB has provided funding and items such as backpacks, sports equipment, school supplies, clothing, and so much more.

YRB believes that small things can make a big difference in the life of a child.

YRB accepts requests from organizations and professionals working in the community with vulnerable children and youth, including teachers, public health nurses, social workers, and juvenile counselors. These are the people who understand the patchwork of programs and systems, and who know when a child has fallen between the cracks and needs a little help without red tape.

Because of our network of referrals, the YRB serves many children and young adults not covered by various systems and agencies.

YRB does not accept requests from the public.

When a request is received, it is quickly

reviewed and if the request meets basic requirements (assistance to a child in a situation in which there are no other immediately available resources, typically up to $250 per child), YRB fills the request with, for example, a check to a science camp or gym fee, a Ross or Safeway gift card --providing a quick and specific response to an acute need.

It is through the generosity of the following sponsors and hundreds of community members and businesses donating auction items to our annual fundraiser that enabled us to meet the resource needs of 240 children and youth.

We anticipate these numbers will increase over the next few years as our local families continue to face uncertainties in the ever-changing landscape of manmade and natural calamities of the modern world.

Heartfelt thanks go to the generosity of the following sponsors: • Bay Federal Credit Union • Capitola Candy Company • Community Printers • Indigo Beach Properties • Kiwanis International • Law Office of Benjamin/Leibrock • Mateo Family Foundation in Memory of Honorable Thomas Black • Monterey Bay Resources, Inc. • Paul B. Meltzer • Ramsey Lath and Plaster, Inc. • Santa Cruz Memorial • Santa Cruz Skateboards (NHS) • Tharen Miller.

If you would like to learn more about the Youth Resources Bank, donate, became a Board member, or volunteer at our events, please check out our website and follow us on: Facebook https://www.facebook. com/youth.resource.bank.sc or Instagram https://www.instagram. com/youth.resource.bank.sc/ n •••

If you missed the 2023 event, next year’s will be at Bargetto Winery on Saturday April 27, 2024. We hope to see you there! It is the power of community that makes a difference in a child’s life.

Come see the new Style Line black vinyl window on display

Former YRB board member Nathan Benjamin (center) receiving the Thomas Black Award for 20 years of service to youth, with YRB Chair Cameron Logan (right) and board member Jim Tracey.

YRB board member and Media/Marketing Chair Salvador Allen with the banner he designed.

Dominican Pharmacy to Close

By Jondi Gumz

Dominican Plaza Pharmacy, located inside Dominican Hospital, will close effective July 31, according to Dominican’s parent, Dignity Health and Common Spirit.

The decision become public as construction began on a drive-through 24-hour CVS Pharmacy approved in 2020 at 1505 and 1515 Commercial Way, across from the hospital.

Common Spirit spokeswoman Lindsay Leszczynski said, “The decision to close the outpatient pharmacy was not made lightly, as we recognize the important role the pharmacy played in providing our inpatients with discharge medications and filling the communities’ prescriptions.

However, as the healthcare landscape continues to shift post-COVID, it is incumbent on us to continuously assess our resources and allocate them in the most efficient ways to ensure the viability of the high-quality, mission-driven care we provide.”

The last day to fill a prescription at the Dominican Plaza Pharmacy is July 24. Patients with automatic refills will be transferred to a local pharmacy of their choice.

For employees impacted by the closure, Dignity Health is working with them to identify opportunities elsewhere in the organization, Leszczynski said.

She added that Dignity Health is in the early process of evaluating future use of the pharmacy space and will share more information as it becomes available.

Dominican Hospital got county approval in 2021 for a parking garage and surgery center but has not begun construction.

Leszczynski said the financial impact of the pandemic “has impacted or slowed some of our expansion projects. However, we remain steadfast in our commitment to bringing these projects to fruition and look forward to providing an updated timeline soon.” n

Jobs in Santa Cruz County

•••

Unemployment in Santa Cruz County at 5.7% is down from April, when it was 6% but up from a year ago, when it was 4.1%.

Rains and flooding in March took a toll on the ag sector, with 600 jobs lost, compared to a year ago.

Private education and health services had the biggest gain, followed by leisure and hospitality, with seasonal increases.

The labor force at 135,700 was bigger than in April and there were 300 fewer unemployed people.

The city of Capitola has been recruiting an account clerk. Gayle Bakery & Rosticceria needs experienced retail staff. Safe at Home Senior Care needs a front desk receptionist.

Kohl’s is recruiting a store manager. Bay Federal Credit Union is recruiting a vice president of risk management.

Trader Joe’s needs crew for the evening shift.

Source: California Employment Development Department

During the pandemic in 2020, unemployment hovered around 17% in 2020, fueled by state restrictions. n

Lions Give $120,000 to Common Roots Farm

On June 3, Common Roots Farm, a nonprofit in Santa Cruz where adults with disabilities help run the enterprise, hosted a ground-breaking for a barn to sustain operations.

As part of the ceremonies, Capitola Coast Lions Club and Lions International Foundation presented the farm a check for $120,000.

“The farm needs a barn, and our contribution will cover the expense for the barn’s roof. We are so thrilled to be able to help support this unique and extraordinary community service destination,” said Stan Weitzman, Lions International vice district governor.

He added, “Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind, gave Lions our mission. Providing selfless service and support to those in need is who we are and what we do.”

Common Roots Farm is an urban farm in the City of Santa Cruz, on a 7-acre historic agricultural parcel at 301 Golf Club Drive. Next to the farm and part of the enterprise are homes where 19 adults with developmental disabilities live, alongside UC Santa Cruz students and others.

The farm, established five years ago, offers meaningful community engagement

to these residents, day program participants, special education students and others. Visitors and volunteers are always welcomed.

“The barn will enable operation yearround for people of all abilities to wash, pack, and store healthy farm produce and beautiful flowers for local sale,” said Heidi Cartan, executive director, Common Roots Farm. “We will have tool storage, a bouquet-making area and more. Common Roots also stewards a riparian habitat along Pogonip Creek.”

She added, “We are so thankful for the generosity of the members of Lions International but also eternally grateful for everyone in our community who has come together hand-in-hand to help make the farm and the much-needed barn a reality.”

Common Roots Farm is a low-till operation.

The farm provides farm skills training, paid internships to people with disabilities, individual and corporate volunteer

opportunities, environmental and gardening education, traineeships, and micro-enterprise opportunities.

“I love working on the farm,” said wheelchair volunteer Noah Habib.

“And I work on the farm in memory of my “oma” (grandma)” said Noah’s friend, Thomas Kernot.

A variety of vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers are grown and sold to customers.

Bordering the farm on one side is a paved public street which provides vehicle and pedestrian access to Pogonip Park, a 640-acre open space reserve.

The barn on its open side will face the street so that a portion of the barn can be used to market and sell produce to the public.

Broader public awareness of Common Roots Farm is necessary for its long-term viability.

Service to Common Roots Farm is the primary focus of the “Join together” Lions specialty club, Capitola Coast. n

Learn more. Common Roots Farm: https:// commonrootsfarm.org and https://www.

youtube.com/watch?v=2eJzDWEuRWU

Lions Clubs International: https:///lionsclubs.org

‘Liability Claims Fund’ Aims to Boost Prescribed Burns

On June 19, the State of California unveiled a new approach to curbing catastrophic wildfires by providing new protections for prescribed fire and cultural burning practitioners.

The $20 million allocated for the “Prescribed Fire Liability Claims Fund Pilot” will cover losses in the rare instance that a prescribed or cultural burn escapes control.

Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, authored Senate Bill 926, which made this fund possible.

“Prescribed fire is a cost-effective way to minimize the scope and severity of wildfires,” Dodd said. “It’s a tool that has been used for millennia by Native American tribes and one that will continue to play a big role in wildfire prevention. The rollout of this fund is a big step toward keeping California communities safe.”

The use of prescribed fire and cultural burning is considered a key component of wildfire risk management in California. These projects can reduce hazardous fuels, help restore ecological and cultural values, and make communities safer and ecosystems more resilient.

But lack of liability insurance for practitioners has been a major barrier to increasing the use of prescribed fire, even as firefighters, fire scientists, at-risk communities, and state, federal, and tribal leaders call for more.

“The Prescribed Fire Claims Fund pilot project removes a significant barrier to obtaining insurance for potential damages from a prescribed fire or cultural burn conducted by a certified prescribed fire burn boss or a cultural fire practitioner,” said CAL FIRE Director/Chief Joe Tyler.

The fund will provide up to $2 million in coverage

for prescribed fire projects led by a qualified burn boss or cultural practitioner.

The fund is meant to demonstrate that prescribed fire, when carefully planned, resourced, and implemented, is a low-risk land management tool that mitigates the larger, more damaging risks of high-severity wildfires.

The fund is the first of its kind nationally and is the result of several years of collaboration by a diversity of partners working with Dodd’s office, including The Nature Conservancy, Cal Fire, University of California Cooperative Extension, the California Department of Insurance, Tribal representatives, and many others.

“Launching this program is a key step in scaling ecologically based forest management to reduce the risk of megafires,” said Dan Porter, The Nature Conservancy’s forest program director.

“Cultural burning is an essential practice to meet diverse objectives, including biodiversity stewardship, ecological health, and community safety. The availability

of this pilot fund provides cultural fire practitioners a safeguard against financial risk in the unlikely event of an escaped burn,” said Don Hankins, professor of geography and planning at CSU Chico and co-founder of the Indigenous Stewardship Network.

He considers the fund “a significant incentive to support revitalization of burning traditions following the legacy of policies banning such practices.”

Last year, the state released its Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire, which identified this claims fund as a priority.

The state has also launched a state-certified burn boss program, changed the liability standard for prescribed fire, and made investments in prescribed burn associations, agency staffing, and other related efforts.

“We are using every tool to protect Californians, including using prescribed fire to fight wildfires,” said Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. “The Prescribed Fire Claims fund will be critical to assisting our tribal groups, nonprofits and private landowners who are leading the way. This is an example of government being innovative and leading by example. The data that we get from the claims fund is going to be essential to our ongoing education with insurance companies to support insuring this important work.”

Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Fire Network Director for the University of California’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, sees momentum.

“It’s a challenging time to be working on fire in California, but also an incredibly inspiring time,” said Quinn-Davidson. n

Photo Credit: Terry Schmitt

From left: Becky Stewart, Stan Weitzman, Bob Stewart, Heidi Cartan, Krista Brassfield, Dylan Flint, Janie Whiteford, Benjie Fernandez, Heidi Abele, and Sharon Mendelson.

Townhomes in Soquel: $499,800

The County of Santa Cruz Community Development and Infrastructure Department will host a random drawing on July 11 or thereabouts to select two prospective Measure J homebuyers and several back-up buyers for two newly built 3-bedroom Measure J townhomes in Soquel (“The Dwellings at Soquel”).

The date may be postponed if needed to process a large number of pre-applications.

The maximum sales price for each Measure J townhome is $499,800.

All Measure J homes are subject to permanent deed restrictions which impose ongoing resale price limits and affordability restrictions on current and future owners.

To enter the drawing, prospective buyers must meet eligibility criteria, including but not limited to:

• Gross household income does not exceed 2023 moderate-Income limits for Santa Cruz County

• Buyer is prequalified for a loan of at least 70% of the home price

• Household size qualifies for a 3-bedroom home (generally 4-7 household members, with limited exceptions)

• First-time homebuyer: has not owned a home for past 3 years

• Buyer is Purchase Ready, as defined in Affordable Housing Guidelines

To enter, deliver a printed pre-application form, with loan pre-qualification letter attached, to the CDI Housing Office between June 20-29.

Details, application form and delivery instructions at: www.sccoplanning.com/ PlanningHome/Housing/UnitsForSale. aspx n

•••

Applicants will be informed by email of the drawing date. Within 3 days, they will be told their rank on the list. The top 2 applicants must submit a complete Measure J eligibility application within one week of notification. If either fails to do so, staff will alert applicants in ranking order until a buyer is approved and enters into contract.

“Fraser” from page 10

That’s when Dave Kegebein was dismissed after 11 years by the fair’s board of directors in wake of a critical audit by officials at the California Department of Food & Agriculture, which oversee most county fairs — which are agricultural districts and thus entities that must abide by state rules and regulations.

volunteer recording secretary who kept meeting minutes, bowed out.

Then-fair board president Don Dietrich stepped in as interim manager until he realized he couldn’t do both jobs, followed by Kelley Ferreira, an interim who resigned in April without explanation.

Prices On Michelin & BF Goodrich Tires Prices On Michelin & BF Goodrich Tires

That audit reported lack of compliance in more than a dozen areas, including $100,000 of debit card purchases with no receipts, travel expenses with no receipts, debit card purchases for CEO vehicle maintenance with no receipts, spending on food for employee celebrations, which the state does not allow, no information on free tickets or courtesy passes, and 84 employees that worked more than 8 days a day without overtime.

Kegebein considered his tenure a success as the fair had $1.75 million cash on hand.

Two fair board members who supported Kegebein — Jody Belgard and Loretta Estrada — were replaced by the governor, who appointe Nicolas Calubaquib and Rachel Bickert Wells, and a third, Bill Barton, resigned. Some staff departed, and Mary Bannister, the

The seats held by Dietrich and Barton have not been filled, leaving two openings on the nine-member board. To apply, fill out an application at Gov.ca.gov.

Alstott, a Califonia fair veteran living in Tennesee, was chosen by the board to help find a permanent manager.

Fraser said his father traveled the county fair circuit in California as part of a musical band. Fraser came along, inspiring him to participate as a teen in the Renaissance Faire.

“I think the fair has been calling to me for a long time, and I’m excited to finally answer that call,” he said. n

CruzAware Alert System Debuts

The County of Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1 announce the launch of CruzAware, a new community alert and warning system designed to keep residents informed and safe.

According to the county, CruzAware represents a significant upgrade over the previous system, CodeRED, and introduces features to improve communication during emergency and non-emergency situations.

CruzAware is a messaging platform for residents in unincorporated areas that goes beyond emergency alerts — giving people the option to receive non-emergency notifications regarding roadwork and disruptions in their neighborhood that can impact their daily life.

Each user can select their preferred language and communication channels, including phone calls, text messages and/ or email.

CruzAware also includes a free mobile app, available across all platforms.

“We are excited to introduce CruzAware as the next generation of our community alert and warning system,” said David Reid, director of the Santa Cruz County Office of Resopnse, Recovery & Resilience.

“Signing up for emergency notifications through CruzAware is crucial for every resident,” said Stephanie French, operations manager for Santa Cruz Regional 9-1-1. “During emergencies, seconds matter, and being promptly informed can make all the difference in ensuring personal safety and the wellbeing of our community.”

All existing CodeRED users will be automatically enrolled in CruzAware.

Residents are asked to update their contact information and preferences by visiting CruzAware.org.

That way, they can get timely and accurate notice tailored to their specific needs.

Key benefits of CruzAware: “CruzAware” page 31

Q&A on CruzAware

TheAptos Times asked Santa Cruz County public information officer Jason Hoppin about the new alert system, CruzAware. Here are his answers.

Is CodeRED being discontinued?

Yes, CodeRED will be discontinued in our county after a brief transition.

Why?

After the winter storms, the County Board of Supervisors directed that county staff explore a new alert and warning system in order to send emergency messaging more often and under County control.

They were also interested in increasing nonemergency messaging such as roadwork through various channels such as text messaging and email.

Who developed CruzAware?

It is a Genasys product. CruzAware is our locally branded platform.

We should have a mobile app up within a month.

What did this cost?

About $16,000, split with Netcom. Costs go down if additional jurisdictions adopt it.

What’s the key difference between CruzAware & CodeRED?

The functionality goes far beyond CodeRED

including allowing users to select specific event types they would like to receive information about (severe weather, red flag warnings, etc), including nonemergency messaging.

It also has greater flexibility on the back end so that we can send alerts more quickly.

How many households in the county signed up for CodeRED?

CodeRED was managed by Netcom, but I think the subscriber base was around 60,000 (will double-check).

They’re all been enrolled in CodeRED. No one who has previously enrolled is losing access to emergency messaging.

They can log in using their old credentials and increase functionality, however.

What percent of households is that?

I don’t know. There are about 100,000 residences in the County but I don’t know how many of the 60,000 base live under the same roof. Should residents of the 4 cities sign up for CruzAware?

Yes, if they haven’t already enrolled in CodeRED.

Like CodeRED, CruzAware is how Netcom will reach people through reverse-911 style messages in case they do not have landlines (reverse 911 calls do not go to cell phones unless residents give us that information). n

Grand Jury: County Mental Health Underfunded, Understaffed

Editor’s note: This is an edited version. To read the complete report, see https://www.co.santacruz.ca.us/Portals/0/County/GrandJury/ GJ2023_final/2023-6_BHD_Report.pdf •••

The Grand Jury investigated the Santa Cruz County Behavioral Health Division of the Health Services Agency to ascertain how well they were handling the additional demands on their services caused by the Covid pandemic.

It found the BHD to be seriously understaffed -- as much as 30% -- including management, clinicians and support staff.

It also found inadequate crisis stabilization capacity, lack of step-down capability for those released from jail, and insufficient outreach to the Latino/a community, but the BHD cannot be expected to improve in these areas without significantly more staff. Statistics point to a disturbing reality. Santa Cruz has more homeless people per capita than anywhere else in California; some 2,300 residents are without housing. An estimated 37% of the BHD’s clients are homeless. About 67% of homeless residents experience chronic substance abuse,

Opioid Settlement Money Coming

Santa Cruz County’s death rate from opioid overdoses jumped from 10 to 100,000 residents in 2020 to 30 per 100,000 in 2021; in May this year, 101 people died. The state reports 7 deaths among those age 30 to 34, and 6 among those 35 to 39; none among those 20 to 24.

The County of Santa Cruz and cities in the county will receive $26 million from the nationwide opioid settlement over the next 18 years. A meeting is planned for July to accept public input.

The State recommends funds be used for these 6 activities: Matching funds or costs for facilities to treat substance use, a treatable mental disorder, creating new or expanded treatment infrastructure, addressing the needs of communities of color and vulnerable populations such as the unhoused, that are disproportionately impacted, helping people with substance use disorder into treatment programs and out of jail through community education and harm reduction, interventions to prevent drug addiction in vulnerable youth, buying naloxone (Narcan) to reverse overdoses. n

and 43% of BHD’s substance use disorder clients are involved with the criminal justice system.

The Grand Jury urgently recommends increasing BHD’s staffing to meet the overwhelming demand for mental health services in this county.

It further recommends increasing capacity of the crisis stabilization program and transitioning the Mobile Emergency Response Teams for adults and youth to 24/7 availability.

It finally recommends improving service to marginalized populations, especially homeless people, those involved with the criminal justice system and the Latino/a community.

Background

TheUnited States has been in the midst of a mental health crisis since long before the Covid pandemic, which has made it even worse. Mental health struggles and rates of substance use disorder have been dramatically escalating for more than two years in Santa Cruz County.

A longstanding shortage of mental health workers in the country, combined with the now increased demand for mental health services following the pandemic, has impacted all parts of the country, including Santa Cruz County.

What makes the problem even more pressing here is Santa Cruz has the highest number of homeless persons per capita in the state, along with a very high incidence of substance use disorder.

The County’s Behavioral Health Division is the primary provider of mental health care for low-income adults and children who lack private health care coverage.

BHD is one of four divisions of the Health Services Agency. BHD services are designed to address the most significant mental health needs of the County and to ensure services and access for all residents,

with an emphasis and priority focus on serving individuals at highest risk for experiencing mental health service gaps and access barriers.

This population includes individuals experiencing homelessness, those who do not speak English as their primary language, racial and ethnic minorities, lowincome people and inmates released from county jails. Santa Cruz has continued to see increased community need for behavioral health services, especially for serving Spanish speaking residents and individuals experiencing homelessness.

The County has a complex network of preventive and mental health treatment options for adults and children. Approximately 34% of the services are provided directly by the County and 66% are provided by private contractors.

The BHD oversees many programs, including but not limited to the following:

Two county mental health clinics, one in North and one in South County ● A Crisis Stabilization Program for adults and children

● A 16-bed Psychiatric Health Facility for adults (opened for $15 million in 2013) ● Crisis response teams: Mobile Emergency Response Teams for Adults and Youth in North and South County, known as MERT and MERTY

● A mental health liaison program to local law enforcement ● Homeless support programs such as the Downtown Outreach Team ● A locally staffed 988 Suicide Crisis Line ● A 24-hour line for referrals to local mental health services ● Jail mental health program ● Residential step-down programs - sub acute and residential ● Case management services for severely mentally ill persons.

BHD’s annual budget to accomplish this is over $100 million, includin County money and State funding such as Medi-Cal.

Investigation: Goals Not Met

The Grand Jury began this investigation by examining documents that

evaluated whether goals set by BHD for itself were met. It soon discovered nearly all goals were not met, even those representing very small improvement.

Of 14 goals in their Integrative Behavioral Health Quality Improvement Work Plan, FY 2021-2022, only two were met, and these were not directly related to service quality.

Goals not met included access to services, response times to service requests and cultural responsiveness.

In March 2023, BHD released a draft of their Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) FY 2023-2026 Three-Year Plan and FY 20232024 Annual Update.

This plan includes results of the Community Program Planning Process, a method of soliciting community input to identify local needs and funding priorities.

The results of this process are startling.

The plan states, “Community members and providers alike shared concerns about staffing shortages throughout the county system of care, including psychiatrists, therapists, counselors, and specialty mental health case managers.”

The report highlights the lack of enough beds in higher-level care facilities that can lead to people with serious mental illness repeatedly cycling through the system. Patients and families report delays in receiving needed services, or inability to find services when they need them.

The report states that homeless people and those involved with the criminal justice system have unique needs and barriers, and experience long wait times to access BHD services.

Looking at the county’s Medi-Cal population, BHD serves a lower percentage of the eligible Latina/o residents than any other ethnic group.

The major service gaps became the focus of the Grand Jury’s investigation.

While the scope of mental health care overseen by the county is commendable, the complexity of the system, with each program having its own eligibility requirements, makes understanding and accessing services difficult for patients, especially marginalized people the County serves.

Gaps in continuing care are particularly difficult for these vulnerable persons. Studies show a delay in diagnosis, a delay in appropriate treatment, and a lack of continuity in care make achieving successful outcomes more difficult and increases the overall cost of mental health care.

Staffing Crisis

The Santa Cruz County Behavioral Health Division has a 30% staff vacancy rate.

At the time, 4 of the 10 director positions were vacant, filled by interim employees performing the tasks of at least two positions.

A graphic of Encompass’ plan for the Si Se Puede Behavioral Health Center in Watsonville.

In response to critically low management staffing, the department hired a consultant to consider structural changes.

There are vacancies at every level, including psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, licensed mental health practitioners, and other direct service practitioners, especially bilingual staff.

Contractors providing mental health services for the county are reported to be struggling to fill open positions.

Behavioral Health and Personnel staff point to limited pools of applicants for licensed mental health clinicians.

Despite openings in all licensed mental health job classifications, there were no available candidates in the pipeline.

The BHD lacks analyst positions, which would allow them to analyze tracking data more efficiently, to evaluate contracts and to financially plan.

Unfilled Positions FTE %Vacant

Access & Crisis: 11 31%

Adult Mental Health: 17.3 27%

Behavioral Health Admin: 2.65 25%

BH Support: 5 18%

Children’s Mental Health: 14.3 24%

Quality Improvement: 1.75 11%

Federally Qualified Health Centers: 14.25 31%

Substance Use Disorders: 8 29%

Overall: 74.25 26%

Critically low staffing levels have had a negative impact on access to and quality of treatment.

From interviews the Grand Jury learned that the Crisis teams—the Mobile Emergency Response Team (MERT) and the Mobile Emergency Response Team for Youth (MERTY)—are frequently understaffed by as much as 50% and are unable to expand to weekend coverage due to lack of staffing despite having funding.

Year over year Quality Improvement reports reference low staffing as the reason for not meeting performance goals.

Staff shortages impact contractors’ ability to meet contracted goals.

Telecare, the contractor that runs the only Crisis Stabilization Unit Program in the county, has frequently had to close admissions due to staff shortages. These closures cause diversions to local hospital emergency rooms.

Multiple interviewees (all high-level managers) did not know who was responsible for oversight of each contract. This may be due to temporary staffing in these positions or unfamiliarity with the oversight hierarchy.

In response to behavioral health staffing shortage statewide, Gov. Newsom and the State Legislature have recently passed large initiatives focusing on more funding and more streamlined funding for mental health support.

But factors specific to Santa Cruz County heighten the staffing crisis:

Extremely high cost of living, especially housing, ● Increased competition with private and public mental health providers and hospitals, ● Competition with wealthier local counties, ● Lower salaries ● The difficulty of the work, and ● The

large homeless population which makes delivering mental health treatment very challenging.

Multiple interviewees pointed to Santa Cruz County’s hiring practices and lower salaries as a barrier to being competitive. Some noted that it takes as long as two months between the interview and the final hire --these practices are outdated and out of alignment with current hiring practices.

They pointed to the need for more automated application processes and more responsiveness in updating hiring classifications to suit a younger workforce that wants more flexibility.

County Personnel Department

The County Personnel Department does not recognize a staffing shortage in Behavioral Health and maintains Behavioral Health salaries are locally competitive by pointing out that Santa Cruz County behavioral health salaries are average in comparison to six other Bay Area counties.

The closest county where workers can comfortably commute is Santa Clara, where in 2020, they paid Sr. Mental Health Specialists $10,000 more per year.

The Personnel Department does not regularly conduct competitive analysis of salaries, only as needed or prior to negotiations with the union.

In trying to verify the hiring practices, the Grand Jury was told the Personnel Department does not collect data by department such as Time to Hire, Acceptance Rates, Turnover Rates, and Retention Rates. They only collect data for the county as a whole, so they have very little means for analysis by department. Data collection about hiring is left to each department. What they did report is that “a typical process could be 30-90 days.”

While some hiring incentives have been introduced for psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and physicians and medical directors, there are no incentives for licensed mental health practitioners such as Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Marriage, Family and Child Counselors.

Santa Clara County has a $5,000 signing bonus, loan repayment, workforce tuition, and public service loan forgiveness for open MFCC and LCSW positions.

Recruitment and retention is a problem.

It is difficult to recruit and retain people in a county with the second highest housing costs in the nation without commensurate salaries. UC Santa Cruz does not offer master’s degree programs in psychology or social work. San Jose State University and Cal State University Monterey Bay are the nearest universities to offer these degrees. Interviewees pointed to the need to develop connections to these university programs such as internships or stipends to strengthen the professional pipeline for licensed and unlicensed mental health clinicians in Santa Cruz County

Crisis Stabilization Crisis

risis stabilization services are needed for people who are experiencing an

acute mental health crisis. These services assess a patient’s mental health status, providing the initial steps in diagnosis, treatment, and determination of their mental health needs.

While MERT and MERTY can provide some screening in the field, this initial evaluation is meant to be provided by the Crisis Stabilization Program at the Psychiatric Healthcare Facility or PHF. A patient may stay up to 24 hours in the CSP which is considered an outpatient setting. Since an overnight stay is not allowed, patients are considered to be in chairs, not beds. If a patient is deemed to not be gravely disabled or a threat to themself or others, they can be discharged to outpatient care. Otherwise they remain on a mental health hold, known as a 5150 for adults and a 5585 for minors.

This is an involuntary 72-hour mental health hospitalization, which for adults could be at our PHF if beds are available.

The County’s CSP and PHF are operated by Telecare, a company based in Alameda and has been treating mental illness since 1965.

Santa Cruz County is the primary provider of mental health crisis stabilization services for all adults and children, regardless of payor class.

Unfortunately, the demand for acute crisis services often exceeds the capacity of the 12-chair CSP and 16-bed PHF. Capacity depends on the number of chairs/beds and staffing available.

Since the facility often lacks the capacity to take new patients, patients are diverted to the Emergency Department of local hospitals.

In 2022 the average number of CSP patients at the Dominican ED was 29.1 per month, and at the Watsonville ED 8.8 per month.

Patients may have to wait up to 24 hours in the ED to be evaluated. This evaluation can be performed by MERT or MERTY. However, these teams are available only from 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday.

Efforts to expand have been hampered by staffing shortages.

Outside those hours, hospitals must rely on their own resources to assess the patient.

If the patient cannot be released for outpatient mental health follow-up, the arrangement for a 5150 or 5585 psychiatric inpatient stay becomes the responsibility of the hospital.

This placement can take days and is generally outside of our county, since our PHF is often full.

According to the nonprofit Treatment Advocacy Center our current 16-bed PHF falls far short of the number of beds needed to serve this county’s population. They estimated 50 beds are needed per 100,000 population, which means that for the county’s population of about 270,000, there should be about 135 beds, vastly more than are actually available.

Even considering the County’s efforts to treat patients in the least restrictive environment, more beds are needed.

The occupied ED bed negatively impacts the hospital’s ED, which is already very busy dealing with patients who do not have a mental health emergency.

Patients brought into the ED by law enforcement require continuous supervision by an officer to protect against violence or possible escape until a mental health assessment. This practice not only ties up an ED bed but also pulls law enforcement away from other critical duties.

The patient’s assessment, diagnosis, and treatment is delayed when they are diverted to an ED.

Psychiatric Healthcare Facility Issues

The current PHF is a free-standing facility and is therefore limited to 16 beds to be eligible for Medi-Cal and Medicare reimbursement for services.

Since there has not been a separate unit for children or youths needing crisis support, up to four of the 12 CSP chairs at the PHF have been held for youths under 18. However, patients under 18 who need inpatient psychiatric treatment must ultimately be placed in a facility outside of our county, since our current PHF is for adults only. The County has acquired a building in Live Oak and plans to open a psychiatric healthcare facility specifically for children and youth, which will include 8 CSP chairs and 16 inpatient beds, by late 2024 or early 2025. (This is a $15.2 million project.)

Unfortunately, starting on July 1, 2023, patients under 18 will no longer be accepted at the current PHF for CSP services. While this will free up four chairs in the CSP, the BHD says the total number of chairs at the adult CSP will remain 12.

To minimize the potential 18-month gap in youth crisis care, the BHD is trying to open a temporary four-chair CSP for children and youths by the fall of 2023.

Due to ongoing issues at the PHF run by Telecare, the County sent out a request for proposals to see if other vendors could run the current adult CSP/PHF programs. While about a dozen groups received information about the RFP, as of the March Mental Health Advisory Board meeting, only one group had responded.

Some in the Health Service Agency feel that many groups did not submit a proposal due to the staffing challenges in this county.

In February this year, the County increased payment to Telecare, because they have had to increase their wages to attract and retain clinical staff.

Since that time, the percentage of time the CSP is diverted to the hospital ED has been falling.

In the final quarter of 2022, the diversion rate for children was 86.7%, and for adults 44%. During February through April 2023, this dropped to 50.3% for children and 11.8% for adults.

Presumably, this means the diversion rate is also falling. However, factors such as seasonal variation may affect demand.

“Mental Health” page 24

County Budget: $1.1 Billion

On June 12, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $1.1 billion 2023-24 budget, including a $731 million General Fund, that reflects slowing revenue growth.

Despite challenges including financing the most recent storm disasters, the budget supports establishment of a new South County Government Center

“Mental Health” from page 23

High-Cost Beneficiaries

The FY 2021-2022 Medi-Cal Specialty

Behavioral Health External Quality Review revealed that Santa Cruz County has three times the number of mental health High-Cost Beneficiaries than the state average for calendar years 2018 through 2020.

This review defined a HCB as a MediCal patient who has approved treatment claims of $30,000 or more in one year.

There are many possible reasons. High cost of care typically occurs when a beneficiary requires intensive treatment repeatedly. This may result from failure to provide timely appropriate care, especially step-down care.

HCBs occupy treatment slots and may cause a cascading effect on other beneficiaries, who in turn cannot receive sufficient care. This places them at risk of becoming a high utilizer themselves.

External auditors found through analysis of our Medi-Cal Specialty Mental Health plan billing and claims data that our county’s Medi-Cal beneficiaries received more crisis stabilization and intervention services than the statewide average.

The auditors postulated this was in part due to the “robust” crisis stabilization and intervention services the County of Santa Cruz provides compared to other counties.

However, it was also reported that the County pays for the transfer of a patient from our CSP to an out-of-county inpatient psychiatric facility and pays 100% of the cost for that care for a Medi-Cal beneficiary. Since the County does not receive the Federal match for any Medi-Cal outof-county care, the shortage of in-patient psychiatric beds in this county hurts the County financially.

It is not clear if the high cost of crisis stabilization and intervention services is due to the “robust” services, number of patients sent out of the county for treatment, or other factors.

and a new Children’s Crisis Stabiliza-tion Center, design of a new Freedom Campus Health Care Center, completion of the Live Oak Library Annex at Simpkins Swim Center and Aptos Library, creation of a Master Plan on Aging, more funding for inmate medical and behavioral health care, and completion of a new DNA laboratory.

Watsonville Behavioral Health Center

In spite of the severe staffing issues and in addition to the planned Live Oak facility, there is some really good news. Encompass Community Services has just

been awarded more than $9 million in state funds to support continued development of a new South County mental health facility, the Sí Se Puede Behavioral Health Center, a $14 million project to be built at 161 Miles Lane, Watsonville.

Encompass is the county’s largest community-based behavioral health and human services provider, offering counseling, substance use recovery, and housing for mental health patients.

Groundbreaking will commence in 2023 on the new facility with 7 new residential substance-use disorder treatment beds specifically for the 18-25 years old, and 30 residential treatment beds in total. There will also be 106 annual outpatient treatment slots available and the center will have capacity to serve an estimated 1,300 community members annually.

Encompass has partnered with nonprofit developer MidPen Housing to include a 72-unit affordable housing development on the forthcoming health campus.

Learn more about the project at https://www.sisepuedecenter.org/.

Step-Down Care

More than $400 million in capital projects and facility needs are unfunded. Only 21 positions are added or funded due to the uncertainty about the economy ahead.

The County collects only 13 cents out of every property tax dollar, lower than most counties. Meanwhile costs are increasing due to inflation, employee retention,

provide individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, structured activities, community outings, and assistance with independent living skills and connecting to the community.

Encompass’s funding from the County was recently increased by $1.7 million to a total of $9.4 million. (This is separate from the funding for the new Watsonville facility described above, and is in addition to Behavioral Health funding.)

Encompass also runs programs for anyone diagnosed with mental illness, including treatment, counseling, emergency shelter, case management, outreach and education, permanent supportive housing, and transitional housing.

Some interviewees noted the lack of step-down facilities, and the consequent need for BHD to repeat treatment because the patient relapses.

Behavioral Health’s Draft Three-Year Plan notes that for people with serious mental illness, a lack of enough beds in higher-level care facilities can lead to a “revolving door of insecurity, including jail and street life.” Some patients are sent to other California counties, which is expensive. Others are released from inpatient psychiatric care with no follow-up care.

Homelessness

disaster response, and unfunded State mandates, including the implementation of the Community Assistance, Recov-ery and Empowerment (CARE) Act.

The California State Association of Counties recognized Santa Cruz County’s online budget, available at https://www. santacruzcounty.us/VisionSantaCruz/ Budget.aspx n

A person needs secure housing before they can be expected to take an active role in dealing with their mental health. There is a huge need for permanent supportive housing.

In their Draft Three-Year Plan, BHD reports that “some of those with the least financial resources are those who need services the most.” They identify “unhoused populations” among their service gaps.

Newly Released Inmates

Some 43% of BHD substance use patients are involved with the criminal justice system.

About 40% of jail inmates have been diagnosed with mental illness.The jail provides some discharge care for released inmates and may coordinate with BHD if the inmate was a former patient.

The 6-7 month wait for a bed in the state mental health system means an inmate needing in-patient care is out of luck.

The Public Defender’s Office runs some programs to help inmates get the services they need. They also coordinate with BHD, but the effort is severely underfunded.

Behavioral

Health’s FY 2021-2022 Quality Management Plan outlines significant capability to support patients leaving mental health care either as an outpatient or from an inpatient psychiatric facility.

Their Assertive Community Treatment Team provides intensive, wrap-around case management services for patients returning to the community from locked psychiatric care. The goal is to support their psychiatric stabilization, successful transition back into the community, increase independent living skills and decrease the need for locked care.

BHD works with Encompass, which runs the El Dorado Center, a communitybased, short-term treatment program for individuals who may be stepping down from locked care. An intensive structured residential program, EDC is an unlocked, home-like environment facilitating the healing process in preparation to transition back to community living. Staff

About37% of BID clients are homeless. There were 2,167 people unhoused in Santa Cruz County in 2019, and 2,299 people unhoused in 2022.

Nationally, 26% of homeless people self-identify as severely mentally ill.

Locally, 67% are experiencing chronic substance abuse. Just being homeless is associated with declines in mental and physical health.

Homeless persons experience high rates of HIV infection, tuberculosis, and other conditions as well as the mental illness and substance use disorder that contributed to their homelessness.

A homeless person may enter mental health treatment, but have nowhere to live upon completion if an inpatient, or during treatment if an outpatient.

Being homeless is a full-time job; just getting food, shelter, bathroom access, medical and dental care, and access to whatever limited services local government or nonprofits provide is all consuming.

In their Draft Three-Year Plan, BHD identifies “ Incarcerated or formerly incarcerated people with mental health needs” among their service gaps. They further state there is a lack of coordination with other county systems, such as law enforcement or the jail, and a lack of warm handoff to outpatient providers and ensuring a sufficient amount of medication until a pharmacy is open. This is in spite of the “mental health liaison program to local law enforcement” and “Jail mental health program” they claim on their website. (A warm handoff means that jail staff introduces the inmate to the outpatient provider rather than just providing a referral. A lack of warm handoff to therapists, outpatient providers, and ensuring sufficient medications can pose challenges to clients’ continuity of care.

This year’s Civil Grand Jury investigated Santa Cruz County’s jails and found a high recidivism rate -- around 60% -- for individuals released from jail. Released inmates with mental illness or SUD have much higher recidivism rates than those without.

WaterSmart Customer Portal Helps Detect Leaks & Track Use

By Rebecca Gold Rubin

The WaterSmart program is an easy way for Soquel Creek Water District customers to track usage and help use our limited water resources wisely.

WaterSmart provides customers with a modern digital portal to access detailed information about household water use, pay bills, and set up alerts. It can be accessed via your phone, tablet or computer. This innovative software helps residents and businesses to save money, use water efficiently, and quickly identify leaks.

Leak Detection

One of WaterSmart’s biggest benefits is helping customers identify leaks and other issues that can contribute to high water bills. By monitoring usage data through the WaterSmart portal, customers can quickly identify any spikes or irregularities in their water usage, which may indicate a leak or other problem. This allows customers to act quickly and avoid costly water bills.

By proactively managing leaks, customers can not only conserve water but also protect their property from potential water damage and avoid associated repair costs. You can sign up on the portal to receive notifications of unusual water use.

Efficient Water Usage

In addition to identifying leaks, WaterSmart can provide personalized recommendations to help District customers save money on water bills.

Recommendations may include adjusting irrigation schedules, fixing leaks, or making other small changes to reduce water consumption. These changes help conserve water, which is especially important in Santa Cruz County where water resources are limited.

Personal Use Reports

WaterSmart also generates personalized water-use reports based on a customer’s consumption patterns. The reports offer valuable insights into your water usage, comparing it to local averages and providing recommendations for improvement. By understanding how your consumption compares to others in your area, you can identify areas where you can use water more efficiently.

WaterSmart’s data-driven approach empowers individuals with knowledge they can use to make informed decisions and take action to improve efficient water usage. Customers can customize their Customer Portal profile through the Household Profile. You can find the Household Profile

Soquel Creek Water Vacancy

Bruce Daniels has resigned from the Soquel Creek Water District, effective June 19. Daniels, first elected in 2000, had a term ending in 2024. The board could schedule an election, which is costly, and opted to create an ad hoc committee of Carla Christensen and Tom LaHue to develop an application for people interested in the position. The board will interview all applicants on Aug. 8 and 9 in the evening. Interviews will be open to the public.

The last time this occurred was in 2016 when Rick Meyer died. The board interviewed a number of applicants and selected Rachel Lather, who remains on the board.

In 2003, Thomas LaHue was appointed, and he remains on the board. Human resources director Traci Hart told the board that they had to decide within 60 days on how to fill the vacancy, or the County Board of Supervisors could decide how to proceed. Manager Ron Duncan said past elections cost $60,000 to $70,000.

Any appointee will have the advantage of being the incumbent. n Information at www.soquelcreekwater. org/

in the drop-down menu under your name in the right-hand corner. Completing the Household Profile will improve the relevancy and accuracy of the water-use comparisons and recommendations you see in the portal.

Educational Resources

Inaddition to the data-driven reports, the WaterSmart portal provides a wealth of

educational resources such as tips and guidelines on landscape irrigation and information on the many rebates the District provides.

Go Green

The WaterSmart portal is a one-stop shop.

“WaterSmart” page 27

Independence Day

Bruce Daniels

Planets Guarding & Guiding Humanity Each Day & Into the Night

Everything in heaven is reflected on Earth. There is a relationship between the planets and the days of the week. Planets and stars carry frequencies that influence all aspects of our lives.

Each day of the week is named after a planet. And each planet is a Lord whose forces and energies offer us experiences and opportunities. Therefore each day of the week, like each one of us, is distinct and unique. The planets guard, direct, expand and guide humanity. Here is a list of the days of the week and their planetary rulers.

Sunday — the Sun’s (Ray 1) Day. A golden day of rest, reflection, ease, comfort and contemplating the week ahead. We do the Sun Salutation (yoga).

Monday — the moon (Ray 4) watches over humanity calling us to nourish and nurture ourselves and others. Previously, Monday was wash day.

Tuesday — Mars (Ray 6) all actions, hopes, dreams, wishes are expressed with kindness, and in a rhythmic regulatory way, creating Goodwill which uplifts and transforms all that it touches.

Wednesday — Mercury’s day. With Mercury (Ray 4 of Harmony

ARIES

Being creative is a self-identity. Creativity seeks you every moment, calling you to initiate new endeavors that respond to all the changes coming your way in terms of work, how you’re recognized, relationships and self-identity, which is more than you think. Observe everything with calmness. Tend to health with a focus on proper digestion (probiotics, enzymes, green foods, etc.). Stand at the center of dispassion with heart aflame yet still.

TAURUS

Something at home and something about your relationship must hold your focused attention. There’s much to be done here. Ask yourself what the bigger picture is concerning your life, home, geography, relationships, partnerships. Careful if working in the hot sun. You may not be absorbing enough water. Maintain proper and adequate electrolytes each day. Something challenges you, calling you to consider other realities. Cultivate joy. It changes others.

GEMINI

Mercury, the Messenger is your personal planet that guards and guides Gemini. A line of love light streams from the star Sirius directly into your mind and heart. It creates a framework within that unifies all dualities and polarities but only if you love (Ray 2) more, which happens when enough information has been gathered. Study and gather facts on finances, resources, gold and silver, land, gardens, and foods that sustain.

CANCER

Communication may be difficult and you may feel anger and frustration. Simultaneously others could be acting out those feelings for you. There’s a situation with money. Whatever you offer a gate opens. Always what you give is returned tenfold. That’s a cosmic law. Is there a wound or hurt occurring? Something you don’t understand and it’s limiting you? A cold laser light would help.

emerging out of conflict and chaos) we come upon new ideas, learn new things, talk a lot, apply discernment to all thoughts, words and actions.

Thursday — Jupiter’s day of Love/Wisdom (Ray 2). Jupiter teaches us to be loving, expansive, wise and generous. The New Group of World Servers prepare in meditation for the Reappearance of Christ (Aquarian World Teacher whose precipitation begins 2025). Chaos and conflicts in the world always presage the appearance of a World Teacher, carrying a fiery sword and the Rule of Law.

Friday — Venus (Ray 5 of Truth, (unbiased) Science and Concrete Knowledge) guides us towards beauty and kindness. Venus unifies all separations. Our God came from Venus. (which begins to retrograde July 23 this year).

Saturday — Saturn (Ray 3 of Divine Intelligence), the Teacher, who guarded and guided the Jewish people through their 40 years in the desert. Saturn is the Dweller on the Threshold (karma) seeking the Angels of the Presence (Venus). We learn more, clarify all matters, complete our past week with gratitude under Saturn. n

Each day we are guided by these planets. At the end of each day, reviewing our day, we see that our days were good. Then we sleep.

LEO

Sitting amidst your Sun is the past offering you an opportunity to consider forgiveness as a healing path. Gratitude is walking hand in hand with forgiveness. These ask that you value every person, event and occurrence in your life. When you’re able to understand and work on this, a new breath of life fills you and anything that restricts and obstructs disappears. You are free.

VIRGO

As you begin new projects, navigate through them slowly, allowing yourself deep rest so your physical body, emotions and mind can restructure, integrate fresh thoughts, ideas and new realities. We need this reorientation several times in our lives so new values and inner resources can emerge from spiritual sources. There is a deep gestation occurring within. It’s the Soul seeking to more fully direct your personality. Just say yes ... and a magical transformation happens.

LIBRA

You jump between home and work, attempting to be fully present in both. Emotions pull you home for there is a deep need for rest. Both home and work offer comfort in different ways. Daily life seems complicated at times with relationships ever-shifting. Are you stretched out on a cross, attention called in multiple directions? Nothing’s consistent. You’re learning how to navigate the waters of change. Return to the foundations of your upbringing. Understanding slowly emerges.

SCORPIO

Try not to be careless when communicating about people’s lives. Maintain ethics within the constant variations of reality. Your values have shifted so now you’re evaluating interactions. This is good. Home is dissolving and coming together simultaneously, so you seek comfort within groups. A wound seems to come from the past/future settling in the present. Don’t worry about these strange occurrences. They are normal in times of reorientation.

SAGITTARIUS

There is a need to focus on finances, valuations, money and resources. Questions appear concerning what it is you truly value. It’s good to create a list of values and principles concerning all aspects of life; personal, professional, political, public, possessions, people. Who do you value? And why? What do you value, in terms of relationships and communication? And why? Your inner self needs to be discovered more deeply and so these questions are posed. Pluto in Aquarius is asking.

CAPRICORN

An illumination, a fruition, a completion and then a new beginning occurs simultaneously. Do you (like Libra) feel stretched upon a cross, called in four directions? The direction of others, of partnerships, colleagues; of work and being recognized in the world, of home, family and daily realities, and finally yourself (where are you)? This can all feel very complex. Acknowledge all realities. Place an angel at each of the four directions in your home and garden. Stand at the center of the cross and willingly, intelligently and lovingly direct those angels to assist you.

AQUARIUS

Each day seems filled with responsibilities, tasks, errands, restorations, healing and strivings for the purpose of comfort, care and nurturance. On the other hand a dreaminess seems to permeate your days and nights. Your choices and relationships become more important and you wonder if you need to learn new and different communication skills. The answer is yes. Ones that are less strict and more conciliatory. Listen deeply to what others are saying. Reflect their words back to them. This has magical results.

PISCES

As you step more into the world, new abilities are called forth that awaken both your sense of self-identity and your ability to direct, teach, work with and serve others. All of these “others” need nurturing. They are the “little ones” (seekers). And you’re the one recognized as having the needed teaching and nurturing qualities. You may feel a great tension and unease of not being in the right place. Yet you must continue forward. Something will change soon. Quietly and bravely carry on.

“Mental Health” from page 24

Many released inmates get in trouble with the law again and go right back into the criminal justice system because that is the only easy option for them. Anti recidivism programs do work, but are underfunded and inadequate. The Jail report recommends increased funding for anti recidivism programs, including increasing funding for Behavioral Health to support released inmates.

Latino/a Use of Services

Latinos/as in South County Santa Cruz have experienced mental health problems due to lower incomes, housing uncertainty, documentation status, language barriers, and cultural differences. Nevertheless, according to Medi-Cal data, the percentage of Latinos/as in Santa Cruz County seeking mental health services is less than any other ethnic group and lower than the state average for this ethnic population. There are probably multiple factors involved, but historically, investment in South County has been less than in North County. South County previously used a converted building with no private space for treatment. However, an outpatient building for mental health services in Watsonville was opened in 2018.

The new Sí Se Puede Behavioral Health Center in Watsonville will make the distribution of mental health facilities in the County more equitable.

Outreach to the Latino/a community has historically been less successful than to other populations. While outreach efforts have improved for South County in the recent past, more could be done. The limited availability of bilingual and bicultural services is the main issue.

Cultural competency, as well as language, is important in encouraging people to seek and undergo needed mental health treatment.

Currently, the County provides an increase in pay of $1. per hour for Level One bilingual services and $1.35 per hour for Level Two bilingual services.

Level One is the ability to converse in the second language and to translate English into the second language. Level Two is the ability to converse in the second language, to read the second language, to translate the second language orally into English, and to write in the second language. At the present time this bilingual pay differential is available only for Spanish.

Unfortunately, in spite of this pay incentive, the County has a shortage of practitioners who are bilingual Spanish speakers. Some of the farmworkers are indigenous immigrants from southern Mexico and speak Mixteco, which is different from Spanish.

The Grand Jury understands that covering all languages is impossible but more qualified interpreters are needed.

In North County, homelessness plays a big role in the services needed, while in South County the focus is more likely to be on youths and families. Understanding the family unit is important in providing mental health services, especially in South County. This emphasizes

Chromium 6 Rules: Comments Due Aug. 4

By Jondi Gumz

Rulemaking is in progress for state limits on chromium 6 in drinking water.

A hearing is scheduled on Aug. 2.

Written comments are due Aug. 4.

Proposed Maximum Contaminant Level: 10 parts per billion (ppb) (0.01 mg/L)

Proposed Detection Limit for Reporting: 0.1 ppb (0.0001 mg/L)

The current California MCL standard is 50 ppb.

The current federal standard for total chromium is 0.1 mg/l mg/l milligrams per liter or 100 ppb.

The source of chromium 6 can be a discharge of chemical used in industry. It also occurs naturally in the environment from the erosion of natural chromium deposits, which in the case in Soquel Creek Water District.

Asked to comment, the Soquel Creek

the importance of bicultural awareness beyond bilingual services.

Mental Health Conclusion

The longstanding and serious staffing shortage at the Behavioral Health Division is a contributing factor to all the issues in this report, such as lack of stepdown capability, services for marginalized groups including homeless persons, those involved with the criminal justice system and racial minorities.

Until the staffing level is significantly improved, expecting improved service in any of these areas is unreasonable.

The Grand Jury typically recommends an increase in funding when an agency has more responsibilities than budget, even while understanding that if there were funding available to increase the budget, this would already have been done.

In this case, however, not only are County residents not getting adequate mental health services, the cost to the County is also higher because patients sometimes need to repeat treatment.

Recommendations

Staffing

Competitive salaries and hiring incentives should be put in place for all vacant Behavioral Health Division (BHD) positions that don’t already have them. The BHD should consider the salaries and hiring incentives offered by Santa Clara County as a guide -- such as hiring bonuses, loan repayment, public service loan repayment, and workforce tuition.

Water District provided this statement: “We have and will continue to be tracking and monitoring the State’s progress with the rulemaking of Chromium6 and the requirements for compliance once in effect. As such, the District has an anticipated a treatment project (both design and construction) to address the State’s potential WQ objective for Chrom-6 within our 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) budget. We currently do not use reverse osmosis technology. We will be using that for the Pure Water Soquel project.”

You may have heard of chromium 6 if you saw the film, “Erin Brockovich,” which told the story of groundwater contaminated in Hinkley by PG&E dumping and residents complaining of chronic illnesses. Monitoring the 1996 settlement for $333 million may take 30 to 50 years.

The Personnel Department must plan for increases in salary and incentives by the end of 2023 with the goal of including them in the next budget cycle.

The County Personnel Department should:

Plan to do an analysis of the hiring process for BHD positions and put measures into place to reduce the time it takes to hire by at least half. They should streamline the process and make use of upto-date automated processes by the end of 2023.

Institute an annual competitive analysisby th end of 2023 for all open BHD positions that includes consideration of the extraordinarily high cost of living in Santa Cruz, benefits and incentives.

Develop connections and internships with nearby universities that have Psychology and Social Work programs to groom a clinical workforce. A plan should be completed by the end of 2023.

Crisis Stabilization

To eliminate the frequent offloading of the Behavioral Health Division clients to local hospital emergency departments, the Board of Supervisors and BHD should by the end of 2023 evaluate ways to increase the number of Crisis Stabilization Program chairs and psychiatric beds available, which may include planning for another adult Psychiatric Healthcare Facility.

The Behavioral Health Division should:

• Improve staffing and expand coverage to 24/7 by the Mobile Emergency Response Team and the Mobile

Studies show that Cr6 in drinking water may cause an increased risk of stomach cancer and reproductive harm, according to state regulators.

The proposed regulations include estimates of the theoretical number of cancer cases avoided per year, based on the connections and where the maximum contaminant level is set.

The cost of monitoring, treatment and preparing compliance plans depends the number of connections.

Emergency Response Team for Youth by the end of 2023.

• Ensure a smooth transition plan and back-up plan for the treatment of children and youths from the current Crisis Stabilization Program to the planned new facility in Live Oak other than diverting them to emergency departments. This should be completed by Sept. 30.

Step-Down

The Behavioral Health Division should request sufficient funding from the County to provide adequate step-down care so patients do not relapse and need yet more care. This request should be in place by the end of 2023.

Latino/a Services

The Behavioral Health Division should continue to improve bilingual/bicultural outreach to the Latino/a population, including whether any language besides

“WaterSmart” from page 25

Customers can pay their bills through the portal, sign up for automatic billing, and/or paperless billing. You can also pay by text as well as sign up for alerts. Register today!

To register, simply go to soquelcreekwd. watersmart.com/index.php and enter your Account Number (exactly as it is shown on your bill) and your zip code. Once you are registered, you can create a portal username and password based on an email of your choice.

The District is really excited about the WaterSmart program and we encourage

Filtration pitchers and common fridge filters do not filter chromium-6 from water.

Ion exchange and reverse osmosis filtration are ways to remove chromium-6 from a water supply.

In 2010, the Environmental Working Group found chromium 6 in 31 of 35 cities tested, and at levels that exceeded public health goal of .02 parts per billion adopted by California regulators in 2011. To view a map of Cr6 testing, see https://www. ewg.org/interactive-maps/chromium6_ contamination/map/ n

For more information, see https://www. waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/ drinkingwater/SWRCBDDW-21-003_ hexavalent_chromium.html

For questions, contact Bethany Robinson (Bethany.Robinson@waterboards.ca.gov) or Melissa Hall (Melissa.Hall@waterboards.ca.gov).

Spanish reaches the threshold to warrant offering the bilingual pay differential. Improvements should be in place by the end of 2023.

The Behavioral Health Division should review recruitment and retention of bilingual staff, including an increase to the current bilingual pay differential by the end of 2023.

Commendations

The Grand Jury commends the Behavioral Health Division: For development of a psychiatric healthcare facility for children and youths which will provide much needed mental health services for this population. For efforts to develop a wide range of crisis care services not routinely offered in similar-sized counties, including Mobile Emergency Response Teams for adults and youth, a Crisis Services Program, and a Psychiatric Health Facility. n

all our customers to sign up today! It can empower individuals to actively participate in sustainable practices by encouraging efficient water usage, leak detection and prevention, and providing personalized reports and educational resources. With programs like WaterSmart, we can collectively work towards a greener future, preserve our precious water resources, and create a positive impact on the environment. n •••

As always, if you have any questions about this month’s topic or anything else related to Soquel Creek Water District, feel free to contact us at outreach@soquelcreekwater.org or visit soquelcreekwater.org.

The County Personnel Department does not recognize a staffing shortage in Behavioral Health

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

ANNOUNCEMENTS

FOOD TRUCK FRIDAY

July 14, Aug. 18, Sept. 15, 4:30-7:30 p.m., Monterey Avenue Park

ART IN THE GARDEN

Ongoing through Oct. 31

SOROPTIMISTS AT SC SHAKESPEARE

Soroptimist International of Capitola-by-the-Sea will be renting cushions, beach chairs and blankets on cold nights at all 50 of the Santa Cruz Shakespeare shows in the Audrey Stanley Grove in Delaveaga Park, 501 Upper Park Road, Santa Cruz, beginning July 8.

Potential members or others interested in learning more about the Club’s work and activities are invited to visit the rental booth and talk to a member.

Proceeds from the booth are the Club’s major fund-raiser and a portion is shared with Santa Cruz Shakespeare. For information, see www.best4women. org,

This year’s season: The Book of Will, Taming of the Shrew, and King Lear.

The shows run July 8 through Aug. 27. For the schedule, see www.santacruzshakepeare.org

CALL TO ARTISTS

An artist will be selected to create a site-specific public art component for the new Children’s Crisis Stabilization Center in Santa Cruz County.

The budget for the project is $91,000. The deadline to submit a proposal is July 14.

The center will be located at 5300 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz, next to the Sheriff’s Public Safety Center, in an existing 30,220-square-foot commercial building to be redesigned and renovated to create a Children’s Crisis Stabilization Unit and the county’s first short-term residential therapeutic program.

Currently, there are no inpatient programs for youth who live in Santa Cruz County

The facility, when completed, will be operated by the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency.

Youth experiencing an acute emotional and psychiatric crisis will get help in their own county.

A “Call to Artists” includes detailed information about the RFP process, maps of potential public art locations, and a sample contract are available on the County Parks website: https:// www.scparks.com/Home/AboutUs/WorkWithUs/CalltoArtists.

aspx

LEADERSHIP SANTA CRUZ COUNTY

Leadership Santa Cruz County is accepting applications for its 2023/2024 program. This will mark the organization’s 37th year with more than 1,600 alumni.

This is a great opportunity to learn about the many facets of our county’s cultures and institutions.

Participants are introduced to an array of community and civic experiences, with topics such as housing, education, criminal justice, healthcare, agriculture, tourism, and the arts.

Class members have the opportunity to meet many decision-makers in business, government, and nonprofits.

The program runs from September 2023 through June 2024 with an orientation in August 2023.

To learn more and apply, see https://www.leadershipsantacruzcounty.org/

SUSPECT ELDER ABUSE?

If you suspect elder abuse, reach out to the Santa Cruz County Adult Protective Services for support by calling (831) 454-4101 or by visiting santacruzhumanservices. org/AdultLongTermCare. Your report is confidential.

“The County is here to help,” said Melissa Villalobos, a licensed social worker, and an Adult Protective Services Program manager. “We might think it doesn’t happen in our community or even in our family, but it can. Fortunately, families going through this are not alone.”

NEW IN SANTA CRUZ: ELECTRIC BEACH SHUTTLE

The City of Santa Cruz is introducing a new electric shuttle service for summer 2023.

The Santa Cruzer Beach & Downtown Shuttle will operate weekends and holidays between Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day including 4th of July from noon to 8 p.m., taking riders from downtown Santa Cruz to the beach area for $1 per ride.

Free ride coupons are available from sponsors Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Humble Sea Brewery. Pickup spots are:

• Del Mar Theatre, 1124 Pacific Ave #4415

• Locust Street Garage, 124 Locust St

The new bus was unveiled May 22 at the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center, 35 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, which is the beach drop-off point.

The shuttle is partly funded by an AB2766 grant to reduce vehicle emissions from the Monterey Bay Air Quality Control District.

CAPITOLA LIBRARY ACTIVITIES

Tuesdays: Anti-racism Book Circle, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Reading How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. July 11 and 18. Register at https://santacruzpl.libcal. com/event/10808366

Third Sundays, 2 to 4 p.m.: Hugo award winning movies.

July 16: Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Rated PG)

Aug. 20: Princess Bride (Rated PG)

Sept 17: Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse (Rated PG)

Sunday July 2, 2-4 p.m.: Advisory Council of Teens (ACT) — SCPL young adult advisory group, For ages 12-18.

DESSERT PIE CONTEST SUBMISSIONS

Can you make a delicious pie?

Do you want to win some money?

Then sign up to participate in the summer pie contest on Saturday, Aug. 12, at the Redwood Pizza parking lot, hosted by the Downtown Felton Association. Enter the Dessert Pie Contest for a chance to win up to $250!

Entry fee is $50 per contestant. First prize wins $250, second prize is $150 and third prize gets $100. Entries are limited, so register at https://tinyurl.com/ Felton-Pie-Contest-2023

This is part of a fundraiser event 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with live music – Coffee Zombie Collective – in

the Redwood Pizza Parking Lot and Kirby Street in downtown Felton.

For more information, see https://downtownfelton.com/ events/

KATIE SIMPSON PAINTINGS AT SIMPKINS CENTER

An exhibition by mixed media artist Katie Simpson is at Simpkins Family Swim Center through Sept. 24. The public is invited to view the displays at no charge.

Simpson combines collage, drawing, relief printmaking and layers of acrylic paint. Each painting is a celebration of the magical Central Coastal California, and the nature that thrives in unexpected spaces.

Simpson is from the redwood forest of Aptos, and has a master’s in fine art from the City College of New York and a bachelor’s degree from Portland State University.

A nature enthusiast, she works as a teaching artist with the Arts Councils of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. Her work will be on display at Open Studios this fall.

The Simpkins Center/Parks Department headquarters is located at 979 17th Ave., Santa Cruz.

SENIOR CENTER WITHOUT LIMITS

Community Bridges offers virtual yoga, art, music, computer classes, tai chi, support groups and more — and these activities are free.

All you need is internet connection and a computer, phone or tablet.

For help, go to communitybridges.org/SCWOL or call Clara at831-458-3481.

ART AT THE BEACH IN CAPITOLA

Enjoy an afternoon in Capitola at the Sunday Art at the Beach event this summer at Esplanade Park overlooking the Monterey Bay. Browse quality artwork including painting, photography, sculpture, jewelry, and mixed media from local artists.

The remaining dates for 2023 are: July 30 and Aug. 13. This family-friendly event presented by the Capitola Arts & Cultural Commission, is free and open to the public.

https://www.cityofcapitola.org/acc/page/sunday-art-beach-3

FREE FAMILY MOVIE NIGHTS

Santa Cruz County Parks presents free familyfriendly movie nights under the stars this summer and fall.

Family Movie Nights is a series of free outdoor movie events. Movies begin at dusk. Low back chairs, blankets and jackets recommended. No alcohol, please. Come early and bring a picnic to enjoy! The dates:

July 14: Jurassic Park @ Highlands Park, 8500 Highway 9, Ben Lomond

Aug. 11: Lego Batman Movie @ Anna Jean Cummings Park, 461 Old San Jose Rd., Soquel

ITALIAN LANGUAGE CLASSES: FALL 2023

Learn the language of “la dolce vita” with our native Italian-speaking instructors.

Whether you are new to the Italian language, totally

11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sierra Azul Nursery & Garden, 2660 E. Lake Ave, Watsonville

17th Annual Sculpture

IS Show at Sierra Azul Nursery & Garden Free admission

fluent, or everything in between we are delighted to welcome you. No matter what your goals are for learning Italian: business, travel, pleasure, or because you love the sound of this beautiful language and would like to understand it better, these classes are a fun way to learn.

This fall Dante Santa Cruz offers online and in-person classes. The 10-week session begins the week of Sept. 11. Register NOW to secure your spot and take advantage of the Early Bird discount, which ends Aug. 7.

The last day to register is Sept. 5.

Dante members receive an additional discount when they register with a coupon code which they can request from dantesantacruz1265@gmail.com. To register go to: www.dantesantacruz.com/classes

FREE SWIMS AT SIMPKINS

Various times, Simpkins Pool, 979 17th Ave., Santa Cruz Simpkins Pool will host a free swim on Tuesday, July 4, from noon to 4 p.m., and again on Labor Day, Sept. 7.

On Saturday, July 29, Simpkins Pool will host a free family fun day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with games, bounce houses, and food trucks. Info: scparks.com

COUNTY FAIR BOARD MEETINGS

1:30 p.m., Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 E. Lake Ave., Watsonville

Here are the remaining County Fair Board meeting dates in 2023. Each meeting takes place on a Tuesday: July 25, Aug. 22, Oct. 24, and Dec. 5, all at the fairgrounds.

Meetings also take place on Zoom. For agendas, see santacruzcountyfair.com.

ONGOING EVENTS

Mondays BRIDGE CLUB

10 a.m.-Noon, Capitola Branch Library, 2005 Wharf Road

The Capitola Branch Library will host Bridge Club sessions on Mondays (except holidays). Everyone is welcomed from beginners to social players. Make new friends and sharpen your mind. Bridge Club is a partnership between Santa Cruz County Parks and Santa Cruz Public Libraries. Register at scparks.com or in-person the day of the event.

Tuesdays through Aug. 29

LOW INTENSITY CONDITIONING & STRETCHING

9:15-10:15 a.m., Anna Jean Cummings Park, 461 Soquel San Jose Rd, Soquel Santa Cruz County Parks offers a new fitness class for active adults, low-intensity anaerobic conditioning & stretching Tuesdays at Anna Jean Cummings Park. Walk-ins are welcome.

Register at scparks.com. Information: 454-7941.

Photo: ‘Shaken not Stirred’ • Artist: Richard Starks, Gilroy

Wednesdays thru Aug. 30

CAPITOLA TWIIGHT CONCERTS

6 p.m., Esplanade Bandstand, Capitola Village

The Capitola Twiight Concerts are hosted on Wednesday evenings during the summer months.

All concerts take place at the Esplanade bandstand. These free events are made possible by sponsors.

June 28 – Tsunami • July 5 – The Alex Lucero Band

• July 12 – Ribsy’s Nickels • July 19 – The Joint Chiefs • July 26 – Pacific Roots • August 2 – Delta Wires • August 9 – Extra Large • August 16 – Billy Martini Show • August 23 – Everyday People • August 30 – Digbeats

Learn more about the bands at: www.jivemachine.com • www.dirtycello.com • www.tsunami-rocks.com • www. alexluceroband.com • www.reverbnation.com/ribsysnickel • www.thejointchiefsband.com • www.pacificrootsmusic. com • www.deltawires.com • www.extra-large.net • www. billymartini70s.com • www.everydaypeopletheband.com

Fridays thru Sept. 29

MIDTOWN SUMMER BLOCK PARTY IS BACK!

5 to 8:30ish p.m., 1111 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz Celebrate the vibrancy of Midtown at the Summer Block Party, happening every Friday! Food – Artists –Live Music – Vendors

The free events will feature the talents of 30+ local bands, local eats, local artists and vendors. Midtown

Fridays starts June 2 and runs through to Sept. 29. Live music brought to you by Off The Lip Radio Show. Bands:

June 30: Afrobeats Nite Santa Cruz w/opener Carolyn

Sills Duo

July 7: Ancestree w/opener Hijinx

July 14: The Rayburn Brothers

July 21: Dirty Cello

July 28: Alex Lucero Band w/opener Asher Stern

Aug. 4: The Dylan Rose Band w/opener Maddie & Jackie

Aug. 11: Santa Cruda w/opener Yaya’s Kitchen

Aug. 18: Mak Nova

Aug. 25: Cowboy’s After Dark w/opener Corrina & Rick

Sept. 1: The Joint Chiefs

Sept. 8: Locomotive Breath

Sept. 15: Funkranomicon

Sept. 22: AC Myles

Sept. 29: The Expendables

Details: https://www.eventsantacruz.com/event/midtownfridays-summer-block-party-2023/

DATED EVENTS

Tuesday July 4

WORLD’S SHORTEST PARADE IN APTOS

10 a.m.-End of Parade, Soquel/State Park Dr. to Trout Gulch Rd.

On July 4th, Aptos will celebrate our freedoms with t-shirts, a great parade, and a party in Aptos Village Park.

BASTILLE DAY AT BOOMERIA!

Saturday July 8

1–5 p.m., 60 Verde Dr., Bonny Doon Boomeria’s annual celebration of Bastille Day, replete with wine, dance, and music of ages past will be 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 8, at the stunning Chapel Royale in Bonny Doon.

Preston Boomer’s unique estate in the Bonny Doon redwoods houses a large Baroque-style, trackeraction pipe organ, on which expert organists will perform their art.

Santa Cruz Brass Ensemble and the Bonny Doon Baroque consort provide musical delights, including Martin Gaskell’s Ceremonial Music for Organ and Brass.

Costumed Baroque-era dancing adds to the spectacle. Inquisitive minds can satisfy their curiosity about the organ’s workings by making the ‘organ crawl.’ Delicious snacks and fine wines.

Tickets are $59 presale at https://tinyurl.com/Boomeria-Bastille-Day-BD-2023 and $70 at the door.

Directions: 60 Verde Drive is located off Empire Grade Road, 10 miles past UCSC west gate, past Pine Flat, past Conifer Lane. LEFT on Vick Drive, go past Molina & Robles, down the hill. House chapel on the right.

Visit https://scbaroque.org or contact General Manager Kate Smit at manager@santacruzbaroquefestival.org or call 831-457-9693 for more information.

This year’s parade Grand Marshal is Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks for their work in trying to restore our parks from a series of natural disasters.

The parade begins at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Soquel Drive and State Park Drive and ends at Trout Gulch Road.

The Chamber is asking the community to be the judges for this year’s parade. Send photos of your favorite floats, groups, pets, cars, and bands to chamberaptos@gmail.com. Sign up to be in the parade at aptoschamber.com.

This year’s T-shirt image is a local Burmese Mountain Dog named Birdie. T-shirts are available for $20 at the Aptos Chamber of Commerce, Aptos Feed, and Deluxe Foods.

PARTY IN THE PARK

Noon-4 p.m., Aptos Village Park, 100 Aptos Creek Rd. Come to the 4th of July Party in Aptos Village Park with activities for the whole family.

Food trucks and vendors will include Taquizas Gabriel, with tacos, quesabirrias, burritos, asada fries, nachos, quesadillas, churros, shrimp, fish, and drinks.

India Gourmet will serve hot prepared Indian cuisine. Whiting’s Fun Foods has Dippin’ Dots Ice Cream. Clean Juice Aptos will prepare Acai Bowls and Juice. S and B Food Truck offers burgers, sandwiches, fried food and bottled drinks. The Capitola Aptos Rotary will bring beer.

In addition, there will be craft vendors, games, and dancing to the music of “James Durbin and The Lost Boys.” Entrance donation is $5. The event is hosted by the Aptos Chamber of Commerce. Happy Independence Day!

FIRECRACKER RACES

8 a.m., Harvey West Park, 326 Evergreen Street, Santa Cruz

The Rotary Club of Santa Cruz Sunrise announce the full Firecracker race is in its 38th year. That means all three courses will be available: 10K, 5K, and a Kid’s 1K Fun Run at Harvey West Park, Santa Cruz, on the morning of July 4th.

What a great way to kick off a holiday celebration of our nation’s Independence Day!

Runners on the 10K will take on the challenging “Thrill of the Hill” in Pogonip Park before topping out on the Spring Trail that winds through the beautiful meadow by UCSC before dropping down into the neighborhoods before returning to Harvey West Park.

5K Runners will face a flat and fast course contained in the Harvey West Business Park area. The 5K course is stroller, ADA and wheelchair accessible. Everyone ends up in beautiful Harvey West Park for great music, post-race burritos and awards.

Entry fees are 10K, $45, 5k, $40 and kids 1k, $20. Sign up at https://runsignup.com/Race/CA/SantaCruz/SantaCruzFIrecracker10Kand5K

Tuesday July 11

CALCARE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL

6 p.m., Online Meeting Ryan Skolnick, community organizer for the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee,

will be the guest speaker for a Democratic Club of North Santa Cruz County’s online meeting.

Skolnick is working on the campaign to pass CalCare, Assembly Bill 1400, an attempt to implement a singlepayer health program, which in 2022 never came up for a vote.

Members of the public are welcome to attend. Visit www.svslvdemocrats.org for the Zoom meeting link.

Social time starts at 6 p.m. and the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.

Friday July 14

thru Sunday July 16

BYTHEAL RATLIFF’S BLAST BY THE BAY SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT

The Cabrillo Gals Softball League will host a tournament July 14-16 at Soquel High and Blue Ball Park (Anna Jean Cummings).

Some 30 travel teams will compete in 4 divisions with teams coming from 6 different counties in Northern California.

Information: https://www.cabrillogals.com/Default. aspx?tabid=1383516

Saturday July 15

TRUE LOVE CHRISTIAN MUSIC AND ART FESTIVAL

11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Aptos Village Park, 100 Aptos Creek Road Chuck Girard from Love Song will kick off the True Love Festival, now in its third year at Aptos Village Park. Love Song was the main band that started the Jesus Movement in the 1970s and is seen in the new movie “Jesus Revolution,” which is the fifth best-selling faith movie of all time.

More than 20 churches and ministries from Boulder Creek to Watsonville are coming together to present the True Love Christian Music and Art Festival which is offered free to the community.

There will be free hot dogs and tacos, fun and fellowship. Bringing extra snacks and drinks is recommended.

Attendees should bring chairs and shade covering. Parking is at Coastlands Church or Resurrection Church; take the Monte Vista Shuttle Vans. More information at www.truelovechristian.com

Wednesday July 19

ICE CREAM SOCIAL

1 p.m., Porter Memorial Library, 3050 Porter St., Soquel The Porter Memorial Library invites pre-school and early elementary school children to an Ice Cream Social and storytelling by Jeanne Jorgensen. This theme this month is “Safari Adventure.”

Saturday July 29

SOQUEL PIONEER PICNIC

Begins at Noon, Pringle Grove, 6199-6103 Pringle Ln., Soquel Nora Oliver Angell founded the Soquel Pioneer and Historical Association in 1938. During an “old-timers” picnic at Pringle Grove the following summer, she was elected to serve as the first president.

The Grove had been a popular spot for outdoor events since the 1880s. The wooded setting became a traditional site for pioneer gatherings, and owners Lloyd and Annie Pringle decided to make it a gift to the community. The deed was granted to the association in 1945.

This year, members and enthusiasts of Soquel history will meet on the last Saturday in July for the potluck picnic and program that begins at noon. The afternoon is filled with stories, the sharing of photographs, and speakers who talk about the town and its settlers. n

CalAIM: Innovating MediCal

Recently, the Board of Supervisors received a presentation from the County Health Services Agency on the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative.

CalAIM has the potential to transform and strengthen Medi-Cal — and will be a large implementation and coordination responsibility for the County. But what exactly is CalAIM and how will it impact our community and state?

What is CalAIM?

TheCalifornia Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal, or CalAIM for short, is a long-term commitment to transform and strengthen Medi-Cal, offering Californians a more equitable, coordinated, and person-centered approach to maximizing their health and life.

Beyond direct health care funding, this initiative provides a new funding source for non-clinical interventions that impact health — social determinants such as housing vouchers, meals, community-based care coordination and more.

Whole-Person Care

Much of the current national approach to healthcare is fragmented — where physical and behavioral health, for example, are often treated separately.

CalAIM aims to break down these barriers through its whole-person care approach. Instead of treating patients as isolated cases, healthcare providers will consider their unique circumstances, addressing both their physical and mental well-being.

This holistic approach promises to enhance the quality of care and result in better health outcomes for individuals and communities alike.

For example, on the behavioral health side, CalAIM requires that the County develop standardized screening and transition tools, implementing a “No Wrong Door” policy to ensure beneficiaries receive

treatment regardless of the delivery system in which they seek care.

The County established the “No Wrong Door” approach in early 2023, which includes implementation of statewide standardization of screening and transition tools that improve access and coordination of care. These tools streamlined criteria to improve access to care.

Reaching Those in Need

CalAIM expands the scope of services covered by Medi-Cal and the eligibility of Medi-Cal for specific populations, with the goal of ensuring all residents of Santa Cruz County have access to comprehensive care.

CalAIM leverages the Medi-Cal program as a tool to address many complex challenges facing the state’s most vulnerable residents, such as those who are experiencing homelessness, children with complex medical conditions, the growing number of justiceinvolved populations who have significant clinical needs, those needing behavioral health services, and the growing aging population. This will increase access to care and also decrease the financial burden of that care for these populations.

Sharing Data

CalAIM leverages technology -- which became common during COVID -- such as tele-health services and other digital health tools.

In addition, CalAIM looks to enhance data-sharing between systems to effectively serve communities. Movement towards a “one person, one record” model of data integration will significantly improve services by providing actionable data, developing consensus on how systems share data, and reducing duplication of efforts in service delivery.

The County continues to work on a cross-departmental effort to analyze our internal data system, assess the data infrastructure needs for community-based

By Zach Friend, Supervisor, Second District

organizations and make recommendations for efficiencies across its systems. Datasharing will support improved readiness for the continued rollout of CalAIM initiatives providing complex care coordination for higher-risk Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

This type of collaboration will ensure resources and efforts are allocated effectively to reduce duplication of services, enhance the “no wrong door” ideology deployed in County, and further the transparency and coordination of complex service delivery to improve the wellness of Santa Cruz County residents.

Healthcare Providers

What about the impact on healthcare providers in Santa Cruz County?

CalAIM does change some payment models and as with any transition there will be challenges during the implementation/transition period. But overall, the program intends to enhance payment models and streamline administrative processes, reducing the burden on providers. The goal is to reduce administrative/billing tasks so healthcare professionals will have more time to focus on what truly matters: Providing quality care to their patients. n

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As always, I appreciate any feedback you may have on this (or any other County issue). I’m maintaining regular updates on social media at www.facebook.com/supervisorfriend and you can always call me at 454-2200.

SCCAS Featured Pet

Dientes to Open Pioneer Street Dental Clinic July 5

Sweet Cider

Cider is a 6-year-old neutered male German Shepherd who is as sweet as he could be. He originally came to the Shelter as an owner surrender when his owner was hospitalized and was unable to care for him.

Cider had been an emotional support pup for his owner and was with them 24/7 since he was a puppy. His foster home reported that he was such a sweet and easy dog, except he does get stressed when he is separated from his human. An adoptive home where Cider can be someone’s shadow would be the best fit.

At the Shelter he is known by volunteers and staff as being a gentle and calm dog who loves to walk, hang out at home and carry around his favorite toy.

While Cider did not come with a history with cats he was exposed to cats on an overnight with a volunteer and seemed to ignore them. With dogs Cider is fairly neutral and prefers to coexist instead of play; a home with another dog might be a fit provided they meet at the Shelter before adoption.

Cider also has been around young children in his previous home and did well.

This pup is a big boy and will pull on the leash when excited but calms down with longer walks and is very manageable on a harness. If you are looking for a more mature, gentle pup to be your best pal and daily companion come to SCCAS and meet Cider today!

Right now the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter is full of adoptable animals. Fostering animals is an awesome way to improve a Shelter animal’s life and fill your home with love and fun!

If you are interested in fostering any kind of animal please email jillian. ganley@santacruzcounty.us

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Right now the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter is full of adoptable animals. Fostering animals is an awesome way to improve a Shelter animal’s life and fill your home with love and fun! If you are interested in fostering any kind of animal please email jillian. ganley@santacruzcounty.us. The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter is located at 1001 Rodriguez St and is open every day from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

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Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter’s full-service, open-admission shelter: 1001 Rodriguez St., Santa Cruz, 95062

Hours: Daily 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. • Website: www.scanimalshelter.org

SCCAS Main line: 831-454-7200. Animal Control: 831-454-7227. After-Hours

Emergency: 831-471-1182 • After Hours: jillian.ganley@santacruzcounty.us

On July 5, the nonprofit Dientes Community Dental Care expects to open the doors to their newest clinic at 100 Pioneer St. in the Harvey West neighborhood of Santa Cruz, taking over the space from Santa Cruz Dental, which merged with two other dentists and moved to 550 Water St.

The five-chair Pioneer Street clinic replaces Dientes’ four-chair Beach Flats clinic, which closed in May due to flooding.

Dientes, which provides dental care for those with public insurance or who lack insurance, expects to serve an additional 450 people at the new location.

“We are excited to bring more oral healthcare to Santa Cruz to address a glaring need,” said Dientes CEO Laura Marcus. “Our new Pioneer Street location, with an extra dental chair and improved facilities, allows us to serve more patients, especially lowincome adults. We believe everyone in our community should have the dignity that comes with a healthy smile.”

Dientes’ 2022 Oral Health Report found only one in four adults with Medi-Cal are able to go to the dentist because of capacity issues.

“CruzAware” from page 21

• Comprehensive emergency alerts: Receive critical information during natural disasters, severe weather events, public safety concerns, and other emergencies.

• Non-emergency messaging : Stay informed about roadwork, community-level impacts, public meetings, and other updates affecting your area.

• Customizable communication channels: Choose to receive alerts via

Dr. Samuel Kuo, Dientes’ lead dentist at Pioneer Street, added, “Our priority is to provide excellent dental care — care that ultimately improves our patient’s lives. This was my experience as a young Dientes patient over 20 years ago, and it’s why I am here today — to make a difference and give back to my community.”

The Pioneer Street clinic is equipped with state-of-the-art dental technology and the additional chair reduce wait times. The location is near major public transportation routes and has ample parking.

Existing Beach Flats patients will have their care transferred to Pioneer Street as of July 5. To book an appointment or join the patient waitlist, see: www.dientes.org/ appointments.

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To read the 2022 Oral Health Report: dientes.org/power-of-a-smile/publications/

text messages, phone calls, email, or the CruzAware mobile app.

• More precise: Advanced geolocation technology that delivers alerts based on your specific location, minimizing unnecessary disruptions.

• Multilingual support: Access alerts and messages in multiple languages.

To learn more and sign up for emergency notifications, visit CruzAware.org. Local city messaging platforms such as Nixle are not impacted by the switch, though city residents are encouraged to sign up for CruzAware. n