Faced with a looming budget deficit, Santa Cruz City Council is hoping to cut positions, not people by eliminating two positions that were left vacant two months ago. In November, City Clerk Lorrie Brewer, who had worked in the city clerk’s office since 1989, announced that she would be leaving the employ of the city and moving on to Mountain View.. At the time of her announcement, City Manager Martin Bernal and Mayor Mike Rotkin both said they would begin the search for a replacement immediately, however, given the budget crisis, the city has decided to leave the position vacant. Bernal will assume her responsibilities.
News
Santa Cruz Poets, Santa Cruz Inspiration: Len Anderson
Two poems from the physicist, Pushcart Prize nominee and co-founder of Poetry Santa Cruz.
The Exhibitionist: Robert Mapplethorpe
A labyrinth walk of images make up the “Robert Mapplethorpe: Portraits” exhibition at San Jose Museum of Art. The 103 photographs are mesmerizingly similar in size and shape, all black and white with few melodramatic contrasts; neutral dark or light backgrounds in the same unremarkable frames, mostly straight-on head and upper torso poses with the subject looking directly at the camera. Flatteringly lit, formally composed, these seem at first to be standard glam shots of famous people, but after one familiar face draws the viewer close, the path from photograph to photograph becomes a deepening encounter with the same unveiled regard.
Missed Connections
We know you’re lonely, but (good news!) you’re not the only one. There are 124,720 single Santa Cruz County residents, according to figures from CNN and Money Magazine. Here we present an unedited snapshot of love and longing in our city in the past week alone, courtesy of Craigslist.org.
Tiffany 4Ever
The first single off the singer Tiffany’s self-titled 1987 debut album flopped. It was the second, a remake of Tommy James and the Shondells’ 1967 hit “I Think We’re Alone Now,” outfitted with drum machine beats and some serious bass synth, that would propel the album to the top of the charts in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland. It sold 4.1 million copies all told, making it a platinum record four times over.
Ten Questions for Richard Hoover
The founder of the world-famous Santa Cruz Guitar Company talks about the beauty of Mt. Madonna, the bizarre circumstances that brought him to Santa Cruz and the dawning realization that he’s not going to play for the Yankees.
No Shortage of Challenges in Resources Post
In 1983, as Gov. Jerry Brown was leaving office at the close of his second term, he appointed an energetic young councilmember from Santa Cruz to the Solar Cal Council’s local government commission on renewable energy sources. John Laird went on that year to become one of the first openly gay mayors in the country and to launch a political career the particulars of which are well known in these parts: as Cabrillo College Trustee; as Assemblymember with an appointment as chair of the budget committee; as state senate candidate and now, in a leap from the legislative to the executive branch, as Secretary of the Natural Resources Agency. “And now I’m sitting here with industrial solar projects on my plate 28 years later,” he says.
Home Invasion Puts Gun Collection in Wrong Hands
Gary Wise of Gilroy has a passion for guns, and his personal collection, consisting of at least 75 pieces, was worth at least $2 million. He was careful about it and kept the weapons locked in a home safe, confident that no one would be able to gain access to them, but he was wrong. On Sunday night, a group of home invaders broke into his house, tied him up and managed to get access to the collection. They beat him up severely and took off with the guns. They made off in Wise’s truck, but it was later found burned out in the mountains near Highway 9 and Highway 35.
Cabrillo College Struggles with Budget
Administrators and trustees of Cabrillo College are making contingency plans for next year’s budget without actually knowing how much money they will have. The problem, they say, is Gov. Jerry Brown’s current proposal to slash $400 million from the statewide community college budget. Cabrillo, which now has an operating budget of about $60 million, could lose as little as $4.2 million or as much as $10 million. In either case the college stands to face a deficit.
Unusual Valentine’s Day Raffle Takes Shape
Local landscaper Ken Foster acquired 930 pounds of dried rose petals and decided to raffle them off to quell addition to oil and drugs in Santa Cruz. On Valentine’s Day, Foster, with the assistance of local celebrity surfer Darryl “Flea” Virostko, will raffle off the rose petals at Greenspace. A portion of the proceeds will go to Transition Santa Cruz, whose goal is to design our future to raise our quality of life independent of oil. Foster will personally arrange the petals as mulch wherever and however the the lucky winner chooses.
