CRA News September 2002

Selected articles from the newsletter of the Carmel Residents Association

CRA Meeting: Carmel -- Your Home Town

President's Message
Preserving Carmel character

by Larry Rodocker

The other day I was thinking about why I enjoy the Carmel Residents Association (in addition to the friendly people). Dorene and I had our first exposure to the CRA before we moved here. We had subscribed to the Pine Cone in order to have an idea what Carmel was about. There were so many cultural activities occurring--it was apparent our lives would be enhanced. While reading, Dorene saw an article mentioning the beach cleanup sponsored by the CRA. We thought it incredible that an organization would volunteer to clean the beach and that they must really care about their community and its environment.

Since becoming active in the Carmel Residents Association, I've found that our members have a primary interest in preserving Carmel's character. We are proactive in issues regarding our environment--the forest, wildlife, beach, etc. We have even been known as "tree huggers," the ultimate compliment! We want to preserve our architectural treasures--the cottages and buildings throughout the village. We support the arts. We stand and speak in city council and various commission meetings.

Why do we take this active role as advocates for protecting the environment, preserving our architectural history and maintaining the Carmel character? In my mind, it is because the assets and character of Carmel are unique, priceless and irreplaceable--if lost, they would never be recovered. It was best said by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his poem Each and All:

Each and All " ... I thought the sparrow's note from heaven, Singing at dawn on the alder bough; I brought him home, in his nest, at even; He sings the song, but it cheers not now; For I did not bring home the river and sky; He sang to my ear, -- they sang to my eye. The delicate shells lay on the shore; The bubbles of the latest wave Fresh pearls to their enamel gave, And the bellowing of the savage sea Greeted their safe escape to me. I wiped away the weeds and foam -- I fetched my sea-born treasures home; But the poor, unsightly, noisome things Had left their beauty on the shore With the sun and the sand and the wild uproar."

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

If our streetscapes are changed, if street numbers are added to our homes, if street lights and sidewalks are added to our neighborhoods, if our historic cottages are replaced by oversized mansions, we will have removed Carmel from its character like the sparrow and pearl were removed from their settings. Then what will Carmel be?

How can you as a member make a difference? You can express your opinions by attending city council and commission meetings, writing letters to the newspapers and letting the CRA board know about issues in which you are interested and willing to take an active role. Together, we can preserve the character of Carmel.

Police Department's LINKS program approved by City Council

Saturday, Sept 21
9a.m. - noon

* Volunteers meet at foot of Ocean Avenue
* Please bring gloves

The CRA Beach Cleanup on September 21 will join the statewide effort. [Note: This is the third, rather than the fourth Saturday and begins at 9 a.m., one hour earlier.] Kay and Harvey Kuffner will be in charge of the day's activities. Volunteers throughout California will collect debris, weighing and recording it. The information is used by the state and other environmental groups in promoting cleaner, safer beaches. For information, call the Kuffners at 626-1951.

Dick Laney was the hero of the May beach cleanup in finding the keys of 10th Mountain Division veteran and marathoner Pierre Delfausse's granddaughter, who lives in L.A., and was devastated to discover she had lost them. Keys to a new Volkswagen were also found, but a search of the parking log turned up only one VW which didn't respond, so the keys were taken to the Police Department.

Beach participants were delighted in July to be joined by an enthusiastic group of young people, 7th graders through high school, from the National Charity League. Sheila Hoffman, CRA's contact with that group, says, "We hope to bring volunteers to help every month. It will be a popular activity." The National Charity League is a mother-daughter organization through which young people commit themselves to six years of community service.

CRA PROFILE
by Howard Skidmore

He's an author, he's an actor, he's a ...

Michael Maryk is a barber in Carmel. That's nice, but ho hum. However, there is more, in fact, quite a bit more!

The CRA member is also the screenwriter, executive producer and an actor in a feature film starring Academy Award Winner Cliff Robertson. The movie, 13th Child, Legend of the Jersey Devil, will be regionally released on October 4. He also co-authored the novel Deathbite that was made into a movie featuring Peter Fonda and Oliver Reed.

In his own acting career, young Michael was directed by Jose Ferrer in Stalag 17. He later appeared with Uta Hagen in Sabrina Fair; Victor Jory in My Three Angels; Joe E. Brown in The Show-off; and Tallulah Bankhead in Dear Charles. In Hollywood he played "heavies" in numerous TV cowboy series.

In Carmel today, Michael, at six feet and 190, with a halo of white on top, sides and chin, is an imposing presence. His manner, however, is friendly and modest. He and his wife Margaretha, a talented photographer, consider themselves fortunate to live in "this incredibly beautiful place."

The two met when he was appearing in TV shows like The Rifleman and Have Gun, Will Travel. Margaretha had come from Sweden as an au pair to the children of a Hollywood producer, Bud Yorkin. They married in the Yorkin house in 1961.

Margaretha has a masters degree in exercise physiology and has taught Swedish-style exercise for over thirty years. Presently, she is a physical therapist at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. Her framed photo compilation, Garden Gates of Carmel, can be seen at the Thunderbird Bookshop in the Barnyard.

Michael's hair salon, Princetonian, is in a courtyard on the east side of Mission Street, just north of Fifth Avenue. He also provides hair prosthesis for patients in chemotherapy, trauma or radiation therapy. He has been at the shop since 1991, when he succeeded George Fraley, longtime owner.

In 1965 Michael and his brother Mark began a chain of Princetonian Hair Salons, the first unisex salons in New Jersey. Michael and Margaretha arrived in Carmel in 1989. They have two children, a son Marcus, now a United Airlines pilot, and his wife Leslie, (who have two children of their own) and a daughter Michelle, a stage and screen actress in New York City.

Barbering became Michael's "day job" (as theatrical people say), by inheritance. His parents immigrated from Albania in 1927 to New Brunswick, New Jersey. His father was a barber and, as a first generation oldest son, Michael followed in his dad's footsteps. By nine years of age, Michael was standing on a box and working part time, cutting hair and shaving faces. However, his talent and interest could not be denied, and the day he graduated from high school, he was on a train headed for Theater by the Sea in Matunuck, Rhode Island, an equity theater.

Three weeks later he was in the original Broadway cast of Stalag 17 on tour. Roles with other touring companies of Broadway hits soon followed. As years passed, Michael attended Rutgers University, served in the Korean War and studied in New York City at both the American Theater Wing and the Actors Studio.

Michael's New Jersey background made him familiar with the grim Legend of the New Jersey Devil, which has terrified residents of the Pine Barrens Wilderness of southern New Jersey, and beyond, since 1735. Writing at night and on weekends, he updated the legend which tells of a beautiful but reclusive woman with twelve children. At the birth of her thirteenth, she curses the newborn which transforms into the hideous likeness of the demon god, Pan, half man, half beast, seven feet tall and murderous.

Michael tried to interest his friend Michael Murphy, a local movie producer, in his demon story, but Murphy, who had just completed a feature film with Art Carney, Mt. St. Helens, showed no interest. Then along came the box office smash hit, The Blair Witch Project, and everything changed. Shortly thereafter, the two Michaels met by chance at Carmel's post office and following a quick chat, had reached an agreement to produce 13th Child, The Legend of the Jersey Devil.

Michael plays an "eminently evil" British major in the film and because it is a horror film, is quickly decapitated. His daughter, Michelle, has a featured role in the film. "It wasn't nepotism," Michael states firmly, "she earned it."

Michael is quick to add, "We have found wonderful comparisons with Princeton, New Jersey, our former home town, and Carmel-by-the-Sea. Here is a place of beautiful scenery, a treasure of talent, character, personality and beautiful minds. It would seem the Maryks add their share.

The Carmel-by-the-Sea Fire Department strongly recommends that in an emergency a regular, hard-wired telephone be used to dial "911." Cell phones should only be used as a last resort.

A regular telephone will provide the dispatcher with important information such as address, phone number and the name of the building or homeowner on a computer screen. According to Mitch Kastros, Shift Commander of the Carmel-by-the-Sea Fire Department, when "911" is dialed on a cell phone, "... the caller will be connected with the California Highway Patrol, but not always with the closest office. Our closest CHP station is located on Portola Drive in the Toro Park area of Salinas. A '911' call that is dialed on a cell phone from Carmel or Monterey could very possibly be received at a CHP office in San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Alameda or Sacramento County, to name just a few." In addition, cell phone signals may be weak depending upon the location and the call may be delayed in going through or disconnected after it is made.

If a cell phone is used, the CHP dispatcher needs to know the caller's name, the type of emergency, the phone number of the cell phone and any other phone numbers that might be needed and the complete address of the emergency including city, county and state.

Kastros has a good alternative if a cell phone must be used: Have available at all times the non-emergency 24-hour phone number of your local police department or highway patrol and use this number to report any emergency. He also can provide plastic, laminated wallet-size cards with the 24-hour dispatch line number for the Monterey County Highway Patrol. We have a few to bring to the Sept. 26 meeting and can obtain more if there is a demand.

24-Hour Access Numbers

Carmel Police Department: 831-624-6403
Monterey County Sheriff, for unincorporated areas: 831-647-7911
California Highway Patrol: 831-372-8241
Pebble Beach Security: 831-624-6669
Monterey: 831-646-3830
Pacific Grove: 831-648-5700

OLD CARMEL
by Connie Wright

M.J. Murphy -- "The man who built Carmel"

Michael J. Murphy was born in Minden, Utah, in 1884, the son of Michael and Emma Murphy, one of twelve children. His father, a horse and cattle rancher, died in an accident with a horse. As a result, in 1900 Emma, daughter Lulu and Michael moved to Carmel. Michael had been trained as a builder and house painter and, in 1901 at seventeen, he built an 800 square ft. cottage for his mother and Lulu on Mission between 5th and 6th. This little house, now known as the First Murphy, faced certain demolition in 1990, but was saved at the last moment largely through the efforts of preservationist Enid Sales, and moved to a city lot on Lincoln and Sixth. It is now operated as a tourist center by Carmel Heritage.

In 1906, now married to Edna, M.J. went to work for Carmel real estate developer Franklin Devendorf. Frank sold clients lots and M.J. built them simple board and batten cottages. Devendorf helped M.J. to set up a construction business. M.J. insisted on very high-quality work and more and more people wanted Murphy houses. His work is in the Arts and Crafts, San Francisco Bay Area style with a great feeling for the site.

Murphy also opened a lumberyard, a building supply store, and hired carpenters, stone masons, electricians, plasterers, painters and iron workers for his staff. M.J. insisted on quality, native materials--first growth redwood, sand for his cement and gravel from the Carmel River, granite boulders from the Carmel Beach and the buff colored native Carmel stone for chimneys and trim. In all, M.J. built more than 300 domestic structures in Carmel. He also built commercially. He remodeled the Pine Inn, built La Playa Hotel, the Highlands Inn, Peter Pan Lodge, the Carmel Art Association, the Holiday House, the Carmel Texaco Station, the Sundial Lodge, the Scout House, City Hall and, in collaboration with Bernard Maybeck, the Harrison Memorial Library. From Robinson and Una Jeffers' plans, he built a portion of Tor House and, in the process, taught Jeffers how to build in stone. He has correctly been called "the man who built Carmel."

Murphy also contributed to the community. When the Carmel River threatened to flood the artichoke fields, M.J. and his team of horses opened the river mouth; his four children and others from the village played at the lumberyard, where classes were held for children in 1905 and 1906. He served on the City Council and on the Carmel Building and Loan Society Board.

After his wife's death in 1941, M.J. retired to Oregon and fishing. He died there in 1959.

The July National Trust for Historic Preservation newsletter includes a list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, 2002. Number one is "Teardowns in Historic Neighborhoods, Nationwide." The newsletter explains, "Neighborhoods across the country are falling prey to an epidemic of teardowns as older homes are being purchased, demolished and replaced by houses that destroy the community fabric."

How many replacement trees required by the city for new construction or residential projects actually get planted and survive? The true number is unknown, but what is suspected is that it is probably surprisingly small. According to Forester Mike Branson, the city uses the "honor system" after it requires a property owner to plant new trees. And, in many cases, even if the trees are actually planted, they may not be cared for or could be uprooted by a new owner.

The only way to change this trend--which has a major impact on Carmel's urban forest--would be for the city to raise money, through developer fees or another source, to hire staff to follow up. Concerned residents might ask about this during next year's budget hearings.

Retired 16th District California Congressman and CRA member Don Edwards recently received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the American Bar Association (ABA). Award Committee Chair Georgina Verdugo stated, "As a legislator, he tirelessly pursued equality and preservation of the rights of all Americans, In an era of partisan politics, Congressman Edwards stands out as a leader and role model, demonstrating the intelligence, integrity and courage that Americans can be proud of in the best of the nation's lawmakers." Our congratulations go to Congressman Edwards!

"Presently, there is both a lack of consensus and perception of clear value by the community for establishing an equitable and reliable funding mechanism for the commercial business of Carmel-by-the-Sea."

So begins the frank report of the consultant, Jane Amick, hired by the city to try to get the proposed Business Improvement District (BID) on track. Although the proposal is driven by members of the lodging industry, who have a majority of support required to establish the BID, Amick did not feel it would be successful without approval from other businesses. Many small business owners feel that the assessment would be a financial hardship with little benefit for their operations. The proposal assumes that businesses would pass on the assessment to their customers, but for some it may not be feasible. The consultant found that business owners do not trust the Carmel Business Association or the innkeepers to run the program. Also, there is a lack of support for the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which would be paid $182,000 yearly from BID proceeds, estimated at $500,000 for the first year. Another $117,000 would be spent for marketing. The possibility of funding a parking garage with BID funds was also discussed.

Despite these concerns, the council gave Amick the go-ahead to basically start over with an expanded BID Committee. These efforts to convince businesses that the BID is good for them could take six to eight months.

Councilwoman Barbara Livingston was concerned that if the city approves the BID, it would be nearly impossible politically to ever raise the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). The city directly controls revenues raised from the TOT, while the business community would control how BID funds are spent. In fact, that is one of the reasons the lodging community came up with the idea and is pushing the BID. Councilmembers Dick Ely and Livingston both asked that residents be involved in the new BID committee as they have been in Pacific Grove. There was no response to this from other members of the council.

Project St. Bernard is seeking block representatives from Carmel-by-the-Sea neighborhoods. Please call Mary Condry (625-2855) or Larry Rodocker (626-4179) if you are interested in learning more about this civic program.

Volunteers needed for City's 86th Birthday If you can spare an hour or two to decorate, clean up or serve cold drinks at Devendorf Park on Oct. 26, please call the city's representative, Barbara Livingston at 626-1610.

Remember that your City Council is on T.V.

City Council meetings are taped and re-broadcast
Sundays, 8 a.m. - 12 noon on
KMST Channel 26