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CRA News November 2009Selected articles from the newsletter of the Carmel Residents Association
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CRA General Meeting:
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| Thursday, Nov. 19 | |
| 4:45 p.m. Carpenter Hall, Sunset Center (Mission at 8th) (No "Dines Out" in November) |
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At CRA's Nov. 19 meeting, Dr. Steven Packer, CEO
and President of Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, will talk
about "What's New at CHOMP?"
Dr. Packer has a BS in biological sciences from UC, Irvine, and completed
medical school at the University of California, San Francisco. He spent
three years in postgraduate training in internal medicine at UCSF, followed
by fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine at UC Irvine
Medical Center. He has also completed the Executive Program at Stanford's
Graduate School of Business.
Prior to his appointment as President/CEO in January 1999, Dr. Packer
served as chief of staff at CHOMP and was medical director of the hospital's
Intensive Care Unit for eleven years. He was a partner in Cardiopulmonary
Associates of the Monterey Peninsula prior to his current appointment.
CHOMP has undergone significant growth under Dr. Packer's leadership,
including completion of the largest expansion in the hospital's history,
the Pavilions Project, the opening of the satellite facility in the Crossroads,
acquisition and development of a 21-acre outpatient campus at Ryan Ranch,
development of the region's first multi-disciplinary Breast Care Center
and recruitment of Northern California's leading cardiac surgeon to develop
and lead Community Hospital's new cardio-thoracic surgery program. These
and other new programs will be covered by Dr. Packer in his talk.
Our speaker is a member of numerous medical societies and has served on
many medical-related boards. He lives in Monterey with his wife and two
sons.
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Open government in Carmel? This
isn't a new issue. Far from it.
We hope that these comments are received by City Hall in the spirit with which they are given a nudging reminder that residents, business community members and employees deserve an open, transparent government which works with them and for them. It is time to break through this "pattern of obstacles." |
by Barbara Livingston
In this time of turbulence in our city, and in
the world at large, it is comforting to step back, consider our blessings
and count our lucky stars.
I am thankful that the cool, clear, clean air and temperate climate of
my Carmel-by-the-Sea childhood is still with us today and that the Central
Valley and Bay Area visitors still flock to forested Carmel for relief
from the blasting heat of their cities.
I am thankful that there are Carmelites who, whether new to the community
or long-time residents, have the fire in their bellies to work to keep
our village in a forest by the sea a place unlike any other.
I am grateful to the early visionary developers, Powers and Devendorf
and those who followed, for keeping Carmel from being developed as a seashore
town with hotels, entertainment, restaurants and tacky shops on the beach
bluffs above our pristine shoreline. They recognized that the incredible
natural beauty of forest and sea would bring fame and fortune to the town.
I am grateful for the new planning commissioner who fills the unexpired
term of Bill Strid. Victoria Beech is off and running one of those
newcomers who immediately "gets" what Carmel is all about. It is obvious
that she has read Carmel's Design Guidelines and is up to speed on issues
dealing with protection of our village character.
I am thankful for Carmel's fine community theater, offered at the Cherry
Center, the Golden Bough and Forest Theater.
I am thankful to our CRA News team for turning out, month after
month, year after year, the best little paper in the west.
I am grateful for our hardworking city family the men and women
employees who are working under adverse conditions of various sorts and
are trying hard to keep up their morale.
I am thankful to former Assistant City Administrator Greg D'Ambrosio,
who has spearheaded the downtown sidewalk beautification project. And
I am grateful to the Carmel Chamber of Commerce, which gave the Friends
of Carmel Forest a small grant to help with this project.
I am grateful to the ROP students at Carmel Middle and High Schools, who
volunteer to pull genista and ivy, remove dead branches for fire-fuel
abatement, plant native plants and install drip irrigation at our city
parks Forest Hill and Mission Trail Nature Preserve and Lester
Rowntree Native Plant Garden. These fine students have never been recognized
by the city for their volunteer efforts.
I am thankful to Carmel Heritage, which from time to time mounts exhibits
from the early days of our village and to Harrison Memorial Library for
hosting programs on historic artists and writers.
I am grateful to the Carmel Foundation for its Van-Go transportation system,
programs and health insurance consulting services. And to Monterey Salinas
Transit for the little blue buses that run between the village and the
mouth of the valley.
I am grateful for the support groups of the city the Friends of
Carmel Forest (planting trees); Friends of Sunset (income from refreshment
sales goes to the theater); Carmel Garden Club (renovation of Picadilly
Park and the library garden); the Lester Rowntree Native Plant Garden
(cultivation and maintenance of plants native to this area); Carmel Public
Library Foundation (raises big bucks to fund books, equipment, even staffing
for our library), Friends of the Library (mammoth annual book sale raises
money for the library).
I am thankful for the start up organizations in the village which work
hard to compete for scarce dollars to fund their worthy projects. Sam
Wright's nonprofit, Friends of Historical Carmel Mission, is determined
to find the money to restore, once again, this crumbling landmark.
I am thankful for Carmel citizens who unite over issues of perceived injustice
like the city not giving employee John Hanson his benefits as he
risks his life for his country in Afghanistan. Thankfully, that issue
has been resolved due to the perseverance of Carmel citizens, including
armed service veteran, Monte Miller, and the media.
I am grateful for the businesses, still here, which cater to the residents
our one drug store, two grocery stores, two gas stations, one bookstore,
four local hangouts for breakfast and lunch. I am also grateful to all
the restaurants and retail shops, which offer good service and excellent
products and keep us from going over the hill.
I am thankful for those men and women who have volunteered over the years
to sit on boards and commissions, especially those who have made their
decisions on how our village should grow and look, based on city codes,
guidelines and management plans.
And finally, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as president of
the Carmel Residents Association and for the opportunity to work with
the fifteen board members each one of whom has something profound
to offer.
I am thankful to live in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Long may it flourish!
The following statement was
presented to the City Council at its October 6 meeting.
"I am Jim Emery speaking on behalf of the Board of the Carmel Residents
Association.
"The Board requests an update on the progress in moving forward
to evaluate all options for fire services. From outward appearances,
nothing is in motion. We are asking for open communication and public
information as reassurance that you are making progress.
"We request that as part of the process, a list of desired services
be developed and put out for bid to Monterey and to Cal Fire. As residents,
we need to better understand the level of service you are considering
and have an opportunity to get answers to our questions. And, we request
that the public be informed of your anticipated time line for obtaining
bids and for public presentation of all options.
"It has been reported that Sand City obtained bids from both Monterey
and Seaside for its fire service. Other cities are doing it the correct
way. Without bids there is no way to compare the kind, value and quality
of services that are needed to provide for the safety of our residents
and businesses and to get it at the fairest cost.
"On behalf of the Board, I also submit these comments in writing for
the public record and we await your response.
"Thank you for your consideration."
[See related editorial above.]
Greg D'Ambrosio, chair
of the CRA Emergency Preparedness Group, asks that we watch for the
Jan. CRA News regarding important information about the new Telephone
Emergency Notification System (TENS).
According to Police Chief George Rawson, residents wishing
to be put on an emergency notification list will be encouraged to
register their cellular phones by logging onto the Carmel-by-the-Sea
web site. "It is always a good idea," Greg says, "to have a hard-wired
phone connected in your home, as cell phones and walkabout phones
often do not function during emergencies." More to come in January
...
A ReminderSince the city does not have
enough staff for continuous code enforcement, if you see any out-of-the-ordinary
circumstance, such as a gardener cutting a healthy-looking tree
or using a gas-powered leaf blower (only electric are allowed
because of the noise), or a beach fire north of 10th Avenue, you
are asked to call the Carmel Police Department at 624-6403. |
Saturday, November
21
10 a.m. - noon
* Volunteers meet at foot of Ocean
Avenue
* Please bring gloves
* Coffee and cookies served courtesy of Carmel Coffee House
and Safeway Stores, Carmel.
* Thanks to the Pine Cone for the ad donated each month!
Neglected, sad, bedraggled, overgrown,
shameful, embarrassing. That describes the vision that greeted residents
and visitors alike, when exiting Highway 1 onto Carpenter Street's
entrance to Carmel-by-the-Sea. Daily, we who live in the sphere of
influence area designated as Carmel Woods witnessed its sorry state
and decided something needed to be done.
The Carmel Woods Neighborhood Association has made upgrading this
area a priority project. Two years ago, we tried our hand at developing
a collaborative relationship with the County of Monterey and City
of Carmel in order to clean up the neglected intersection areas. It
worked for a while, but soon debris accumulated and the most neglected
areas remained unkempt. Lack of available water limited landscaping
to a few native plants. Even these suffered. A couple of manzanita
and sticky monkey plants have survived.
A few months ago, we re-gathered our courage and enthusiasm, focusing
our efforts on a more accessible and smaller plot of triangular land
formed by Camino del Monte, Pico and Santa Fe. It was a repository
of debris and a sink hole of weeds sad and neglected.
With assurance from Carmel Forester Mike Branson, who agreed to provide
necessary water during the dry summer and autumn months, we launched
into the restoration work. Saving the small oak saplings and the two
pines growing from a decaying stump, we removed the weeds, brought
in new soil, changing the contour from a dip into a gentle undulating
slope. Visiting the local Drought Resistant Nursery for healthy native
plants, we selected six for our initial planting. The moment the salvia
clevelandii was firmed into the ground, a Swallow Tail Butterfly landed
on it, signaling approval of our efforts. Wood chips from the Marina
Landfill were spread to provide a moisture retentive and weed suppressive
mulch. California poppies bloomed at the edges of each new plant basin.
Emboldened with this success, we launched into a major clean-up of
the islands and peninsulas closer to the highway. Two dead trees were
removed by the city. We employed Juan Garcia and his crew to do the
designated work. They removed and thinned low tree limbs, dug out
compacted salvia leucantha or Mexican sage, shaped the remaining shrubs,
cleaned up the road edges, spread new soil and finished with wood
chips to complete the job.
Local neighbors have taken on their own personal projects, planting
the little island at the stop sign in front of Father Serra's statue,
watering the planters at its base, wood chipping roadsides and the
continuing clean-up of discarded rubbish.
We hope our restoration projects add positively to the daily lives
of those who travel into and out of Carmel at Carpenter Street. Now-deceased
long timers used to say that this entrance is the one used by Carmelites,
while tourists choose Ocean Avenue. Whatever the truth, we in Carmel
Woods welcome you warmly or wish you safe travel as you leave our
hillside overlooking forest and ocean.
Member of an old Carmel family and sister of Carmel Residents Association
Board member Skip Lloyd, Lucinda is a long-time employee of CHOMP.
She's a registered nurse in the Float Pool, which means she works
anywhere there is a need, sometimes more than one place a shift. Cindy
says, "I don't know where I'll be working until I arrive at 3pm. It
makes life interesting. I work in the ER, Clinical Decision Unit,
Admission Services, Critical Care, Telemetry and the four Medical-Surgical
units or as a Resource/Crisis Nurse, roving the hospital to help where
needed."
The Carmel Chamber of Commerce
is once again sponsoring a trip to China April 6 to 14, 2010,
which is open to anyone interested, whether chamber members or not.
Over 400 people travelled with the chamber in 2006-07 and had a
fabulous time. The main trip includes visits to Beijing, Shanghai,
Suzhou and Hangzhou, or participants can select special trips to
see the terra-cotta warriors at Xi'an or to cruise the Yangtze River.
The cost is $1799, including a $100 deposit. The other options have
an added fee.
The trip is put together by a company working exclusively with chambers
of commerce to bring people to China. Cultural sites visited include
the Great Wall of China, palaces, temples and gardens. Shopping
includes a jade factory, pearl farm and silk embroidery at the National
Embroidery Institute.
Interested people should call the Carmel Chamber of Commerce at
624-2522 to get a packet with detailed information.
Carmelites were united in
outrage after reading in the Oct. 23 Pine Cone that the
city had notified the wife of employee John Hanson, who is serving
a tour of duty in Afghanistan, that his health insurance and the
difference between his military pay and city salary were being
cut. Before leaving, Hanson had been verbally assured by city
officials that his benefits would continue, just as they had when
he served in Iraq. This was a devastating pronouncement for the
Hansons, who have two children in college, affecting not only
their morale, but the morale of John's fellow city employees.
An article in the Oct. 29 Monterey County Weekly reported
that the city's move to cut Hanson's benefits was made not long
after his deposition in a lawsuit filed against the city by Human
Resources Manager Jane Miller, alleging sexual harassment and
discrimination by the city administrator. The article quoted Miller's
attorney, Michael Stamp, as saying, "[Hanson] was asked questions
about his observations and opinions about the workplace, and he
answered them."
Former CRA President and Vietnam veteran Monte Miller launched
a petition drive in front of the Post Office residents
of all political persuasions signed asking the city to
restore Hanson's benefits. Television as far as San Francisco
picked up the story.
Apparently taken aback by the furor, the city reconsidered the
decision and placed a resolution on the Nov. 3 agenda. The council
chose to broaden coverage to anyone who has been activated into
military service from National Guard or from inactive military
services, thus restoring Hanson's benefits. Before the City Council
voted unanimously to approve the resolution, many residents voiced
their unhappiness with the city's attempt to cut Hanson's benefits.
The audience was clearly angry. Rather than admit they were reversing
course on a previous decision, the mayor and council attempted,
unsuccessfully, to convince the public that it had been their
intent all along to provide the benefits.
Airby Phyllis Kelley
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We live in a cottage |
We wouldn't
want to do that Was what he said then As he took out his tools, Measure, paper and pen. He carefully measured. New hardware he bought. Measured again and He thought and he thought. He sawed out one window And carried it away. Back it came newly made The very next day. To open push out. To close you pull in. I laughed in delight. On his face was a grin. The exchange was repeated. He went and he came. The size of each window Never exactly the same. Seven new windows Made from the old. You'd think were there always Unless you were told. The air can go out now. The air can come in. My thumbs are all healed And I'm grateful to him. |
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Carmel's annual tree lighting
festivities will begin at 4:30 p.m., on Friday, Dec. 4, in Devendorf
Park. According to Cindi Lopez-Frincke, Community Services
Assistant, "the Junipero Serra School Kids will sing, as well
as the Carmel Middle School Chorus. Santa and Mrs. Claus will
be delivered to Devendorf by the Carmel Fire Department. Pac
Rep's Stephen Moorer will again recite Twas the Night
before Christmas and the Red Cross will serve hot drinks
and cookies."
At its Oct. 18 annual "Celebrating
Lifetime Achievement" luncheon, the Alliance on Aging honored ten outstanding
men and women of 2009. One of them was Carmel Residents Association
member Susan Katz.
According to the 19 October Herald, "Katz was a library assistant
at the Monterey Institute of International Studies for 27 years and
now, at 88, she uses public transportation to gather and deliver books
for resale to benefit her favorite charity, the SPCA of Monterey County.
She, her husband and her daughter escaped Hungary during the Hungarian
Revolution in 1957, and she has lived in Carmel for 35 years." Congratulations,
Susan!
Evil and good witches, CRA Board
members Kathy Frederickson and Mary Ellen Thomas, were
the hits of the Halloween parade, with their steaming cauldron and elaborate
costumes.
Thanks to Sven van Rooij for driving the witches in his black
pickup truck! Sven owns Digital Carmel Consulting on Lincoln.
Founded as a one-man business focused on network troubleshooting and
repair, Digital Carmel Consulting has expanded to a full-service technology
and design firm covering everything from computer setup and network
maintenance, to revenue-generating e-commerce programs, to compelling,
integrated web and print campaigns.
For more information about this local company, check their web site:
http://www.digitalcarmel.net
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any
time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
Then you are probably ...
The Family Dog!
City Council meetings are taped
and re-broadcast
Sundays, 8 a.m. - 12 noon on
KMST Channel 26
In addition, webcasts of council meetings can be viewed live or
at a later time on the city's web site: http://ci.carmel.ca.us/carmel/
[Unfortunately for Mac users, this technology really works properly
only on PCs. On a Mac, you can run the webcast start to finish, but can't
pause it or search for a special section.]
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