CRA News May/June 2004

Selected articles from the newsletter of the Carmel Residents Association

Dick Stiles stood by to help Harriet Shanner climb over a gate at Elkhorn Slough. [She needed no help!] Milos Radakovich, left, decided to capture this feat on film. We understand the secret of Harriet’s agility has a great deal to do with her years of practicing yoga at the Yoga Center of Carmel at Sunset Center! Photo by Frankie Laney.

Your Board Endorses Two Worthy Causes

Parks, Open Space and Coastal Preservation Measure

The Carmel Residents Association's Board of Directors often supports actions which it believes would improve the quality of life for local residents. For this reason, the board has endorsed a mail-in ballot measure the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District will soon send to voters asking them to help protect and preserve our beaches, waters and open spaces--all elements which contribute to our quality of life. Interestingly, the measure has not only been endorsed by the Sierra Club, the Big Sur Land Trust and other environmental organizations, it also has the backing of the Monterey County Taxpayers Association and the Monterey County Board of Realtors. It requires affirmative votes of 50% plus one to pass.

In response to state budget cuts and rising costs, which threaten the Park District's ability to protect local parks and open space, a coalition of local businesses, community and environmental leaders, Friends of Parks, Recreation and Open Space, suggested the Parks, Open Space and Coastal Preservation Measure and is soliciting support. [CRA board member Dick Dalsemer is a member.] The proposed assessment is anticipated to be around $19 per year for a single-family home and it includes a fifteen-year sunset clause.

Although there are no regional parks within the city limits of Carmel-by-the-Sea, our residents profit from these resources, particularly Garland Ranch and the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreational Trail, as well as enjoying the views of Roberts Lake and the Dunes Preserves.

Formed by voters 30 years ago to protect the area's natural beauty, the Park District has protected more than 20,000 acres and helped acquire 24 parks and open-space areas. Included is Palo Corona Ranch, popular name Fish Ranch, acquired from Seattle billionaire Craig McCaw.

The funds raised will be managed by an independent citizens' oversight committee. Passage of this measure would enable the District to protect beaches and sensitive watersheds, preserve and improve public access for remaining open space lands, reduce fire hazards by clearing dry brush and improve existing parks and recreation areas.

The ballot will be mailed out May 18. Friends of Parks, Recreation and Open Space asks you to vote, return the ballot immediately and to urge your friends and neighbors to do the same.

Friends of Sunset's Historic Video--
Sunrise at Sunset

The Carmel Residents Association's Board of Directors has endorsed efforts of the Friends of Sunset Foundation to produce an historical video documentary, Sunrise at Sunset. It will tell the complete story of Sunset Center, from its origins as Carmel Elementary School in the 1930's, to its evolution as a community and cultural center in the 60's, its listing on the National Register in the 80's and its renaissance in the late 90's into a modern facility for the 21st Century.

The Friends became interested when contacted by a cultural commissioner asking for help. An organizing committee was formed with two cultural commissioners, Roger Fremier and Doug Pinkham, and three Friends of Sunset board members, Ken White, who chairs the committee, Fred Nelson and Bob Pankonin. Kay Prine, John Hicks and Denise Sallee, head of Carmel local history at the library's Park Branch, compose the research subcommittee.

The DVD video will include the "main story" of Sunset's history, with still images, cinematic sequences and a compelling narrative. Other "chapters" will contain historical details of more interest to researchers and history buffs.

The Friends plan to present the film as a gift to the city and to the library. Copies will be made available for sale as the demand arises, although the committee does not intend to recoup expenses through sales. It is hoped that the "main story" segment on the video will be run as a loop at an informational kiosk in the theater lobby for early arrivals and during intermissions. It would also be used on the new web site planned for the Center.

The overall budget is $30,000. The Friends have allocated $15,000 and are applying to foundations for grants.

Public donations are welcome and are tax deductible. Checks should be made out to "Friends of Sunset Foundation (Film)" and sent to P.O. Box 4587, Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA 93921.

Budget workshop reveals a major turn in the path to the city's future

The sale of city property, downsizing of city staff and the lessening of city services all came closer to being a reality at the City Council's April 26 "Budget Workshop." The centerpiece of City Administrator Rich Guillen's presentation was a report from the Revenues and Expenses Advisory Committee appointed by the mayor, whose membership was primarily business community members and commercial property owners except for CRA member Marv Silverman.

No formal action was taken, but the council generally agreed with these recommendations:

• The sale of Flanders and possibly the Scout House.
  
  
• Installing pay-and-display parking units on the north lot at Sunset Center. The council has already voted to charge tour busses although it has not yet been implemented.
  
  
• The consolidation of city departments: merging forest and beach with public works; merging police with fire to create a Public Safety Department. Department head positions for planning, Sunset Center, public works and fire would remain unfilled. In the end, the city staff would be down by 17.5 fulltime jobs. Rich Guillen agreed that staff would have to do more, which could lower the level of service to which the public is accustomed.

Larry Rodocker pointed out that 28 taxing districts in California use a document transfer tax on real estate sales. The revenue from such a measure, more than $1 million, would meet Carmel's entire 2003 deficit and allow capital improvements back in the budget. When asked if the committee had discussed this, Marv Silverman replied from the audience that they had and that it should have been in the report. However, the city administrator reiterated that they were only looking at the written report and the council did not disagree.

The committee recommended increasing permit fees for all city services. Carmel fees are thought to be low and Guillen will take a look at what other cities charge.

Although the committee recommended raising the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), Paula Hazdovac and Gerard Rose expressed great reluctance to do this. The city administrator will do an audit within the next two weeks to see what the occupancy rates are and report back to council. July would be the deadline to put a measure on the November ballot; an increase would require a two-thirds majority of voters.

There was some interest in the recommendation to revive the Business Improvement District proposal, saving the city the $100,000 it pays for marketing. However, several council members felt that even if it were revived, the city should continue its financial contribution for marketing.

The city administrator recommended a reduction of employee wages and salaries and an increase in their contribution for health insurance. At the beginning of the meeting, an employees' union representative expressed concern about increases in health insurance payments, noting that employees are already paying more.

Other suggestions, a city credit card, closing the city one day a week, collecting TOT on 30-day vacation rentals and recruiting volunteer graduate students to help city departments will be considered.

Future budget meetings, all at 4:30 p.m.: Thursday, May 13, Tuesday, May 25 and Thursday, June 3.

Outgoing President's Message
Farewell

by Larry Rodocker

Enjoyable has been my time as CRA president,
Due to knowing each of you, a Carmel resident.
We've tried to better our village for which all care.
Any improvements shown, we jointly share.
Special thanks to members of our board
And their help in many issues we've had to ford.
Also for various committees, wonderful people did volunteer.
There's a fondness in my heart, even a tear.
And to all the people who come to monthly meetings,
With pleasant smiles and happy greetings,
Expressing warm feelings that flow and surround,
From which energy and happiness abound.
Finally, a statement tried and true:
I thank each and every one of you.

Incoming President's Message
Looking forward

by Sherry Shollenbarger

I'd like to thank the board for electing me as their president for the upcoming year and assure them and all of you that I will give my best effort to fulfill this role and their faith in me. Larry Rodocker has been a wonderful role model and I am pleased to have him as an ongoing board member. I congratulate him on two successful years as president.

The diverse background of the board, their incredible commitment to our community and willingness to serve as involved members not only of the Carmel Residents Association but our local and world environment will make this year enjoyable and I hope very productive.

As we enter the summer, already filled with opportunities to enjoy social outings together, I hope that we can also plan a year filled with many interesting guest speakers, more delightful "Dines Out," and be faithful advocates for promoting responsible care of this magnificent city, Carmel-by-the-Sea. I hope, too, that we will more actively invite our friends and neighbors, new and old, to come participate in our Association.

Carmel Residents Association offers a unique venue for coming together not just socially, not just to learn from our guest speakers, but to maintain a level of awareness about our direction as a community that will enable us to address and assist our local government as active, knowledgeable participants.

Finally, to that end, I hope that each member will feel free to speak with me about your ideas and concerns. Awareness and motivation have helped this organization grow and become an integral part of Carmel for many years.

I am honored to be a part of such a group of citizens and would ask that we all reflect on Clayton Anderson's question to our new City Council members at our April meeting, "What is special about Carmel that makes it attractive to residents and visitors?"

F.Y.I. - CRA Board Actions

• Larry Rodocker, speaking on behalf of the Carmel Residents Association's Board, asked the City Council at its April 6 meeting to oppose Sen. Bruce McPherson's bill which would replace elected directors with local mayors on the water board, would eliminate the public's right to vote on water projects and would allow weighted voting according to population, giving Carmel little say. The council felt it was premature to take action. We will continue to follow the development of this bill.
  
  
• Monte Miller, speaking for the Board, asked the council to add the following to the Local Coastal Plan: the prohibition of street addresses and mailboxes in the public right of way, a ban on smoking on Carmel Beach, as several other coastal cities have done, [the latest being Los Angeles], a required bond for the timely completion of Carmel construction and a required bond to ensure that construction-required landscaping is properly maintained. No action was taken on these requests.

OLD CARMEL
by Connie Wright

Jo Mora: Modern Renaissance Man

Jo Mora was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1876, the son of a Catalonian sculptor who, the following year, moved his family to the Eastern U.S. Jo studied art in Boston and became the Sunday cartoonist for the Boston Herald. By age 27 he was already known as a journalist, cartoonist and illustrator. A trip to California in 1903 for the purpose of cowboying, sketching and photography was followed in the next year by a trip to Arizona which he spent photographing and sketching the Hopi and Navaho. He became fluent in both languages and was one of the few non-Indians to undergo a Kachina initiation, a ritual purification. He married Grace Needham in 1906; they had two children. Mora next settled in California and turned to sculpture for 25 years, initially in Mountain View, then in San Francisco as his commissions there grew.

He exhibited at the Pan Pacific International Exhibition in 1915 and had a one-man show the same year.

In an attempt to lure Mora to the Monterey Peninsula, Sam Morse of Pebble Beach offered him two-and-one-half acres there. Frank Powers offered a city block in Carmel. Mora chose Carmel and designed a small house for the site (First Avenue at San Carlos). Jo accepted the commission for the Serra cenotaph (sarcophagus) at the Carmel Mission. The artist referred to his creation of the cenotaph as "the supreme professional effort of my life."

A founding board member of the Carmel Art Association, Mora continued to receive important commissions in Boston, Portland and Los Angeles. In addition to the Serra cenotaph, he created the wood statue of Father Serra, which can be seen on the way into Carmel at Camino del Monte and Serra, several books, bottle caps, milk cartons and a logo for the Carmel Dairy, Carmel dollars, the scrip used in Carmel during the Depression and menus for a number of restaurants. In 1936 and 1937 he worked at the County Court House in Salinas, drawing on local history to depict Indians, Vaqueros, explorers and Yankee traders on the exterior walls of the building.

Mora died in 1947. In 1996, the Book Club of California chose him as one of the state's most accomplished book illustrators. In 1997 there was an exhibit of his work at the First Murphy House under the auspices of Carmel Heritage, and in 1998 the Monterey Museum of Art put on a retrospective of his work in five media. In 2003, two concurrent exhibitions, From Pencil to Publication, at the Steinbeck Center in Salinas, and From the Studio: Jo Mora, sponsored by Monterey History and Art, dealt with aspects of his work omitted from previous shows.

The Renaissance man is defined as a person who functions on a professional level in more than one field, or in many fields. Certainly Jo Mora fits that definition.

Take a summer walk at Flanders

This summer the Flanders Foundation will offer free walks through the Mission Trails Nature Preserve. Foundation President Melanie Billig will give a short talk on the history of the Flanders Mansion and, following the walk, participants can enjoy a brown bag lunch on the lawn of the mansion. The walks will take place on the first and third Saturdays of each month, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., starting at the entrance to Mission Trails Nature Preserve across from Carmel Mission on Rio Road. Participants should wear comfortable shoes and bring a bag lunch. Complimentary cold drinks will be provided. For reservations, call 626-3826 or 620-0532.

Owned by the city of Carmel, the Flanders Mansion is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is located in the Mission Trails Nature Preserve, adjacent to the Lester Rowntree Native Plant Garden.

The Flanders Foundation, a non-profit corporation formed in 1998, recently received a $1,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and $2,500 from the Barnet Segal Charitable Trust. For more information on the Foundation, check out their web site: www.flandersfoundation.org.

A True Shaggy Dog Story

Bob Kohn saw a big brown shaggy dog pacing outside Nielsen Brothers Market a few weeks ago--no leash, no owner. Inside, a checker put a few things into a bag, went outside and put the bag in the dog's mouth. Off he trotted. Turns out the dog is Van Gogh, an "SPCA mutt," owned by Casey Riddell, proprietor of It's Cactus on Mission, next to Anton & Michel. According to Casey, "When the shop gets busy, Van Gogh sneaks off to Nielsens and sits outside until they put some goodies in a bag, sometimes cookies for me, too. Then he is 'jamming' back to the shop and drops the bag at my feet." (By the way, check out It's Cactus--you'll love it!)

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