Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Yanely Martinez, organizer for Safe Ag Safe Schools and councilperson for Greenfield City Council speaks about the dangers of agricultural poisons on farmworkers and communities at the Reel Work Labor Film Festival held at Cabrillo College Watsonville event May 5.

A Letter To Department of Pesticide Regulation, Director Henderson

By YANELY MARTINEZ

To Department of Pesticide Regulation Director Henderson:

We call on you to withdraw the environmentally racist policy your department has put forward for the cancer-causing fumigant pesticide 1,3-dichloropropene (1,3-D). 

Your regulation would create a separate and unequal cancer risk for residents of farmworker communities who are predominantly Latino and Indigenous. 

The 1,3-D lifetime cancer warning exposure level for all California residents, established by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) last June, is 3.7 micrograms per day – the equivalent of breathing air with the average 1,3-D concentration of 0.04 parts per billion. While limiting the cancer rate to one extra cancer per 100,000 people is the standard for both OEHHA’s 1,3-D cancer warning level and DPR’s regulatory target concentration, DPR has chosen to ignore OEHHA’s science-based finding. Instead, DPR proposes to regulate to a concentration of 0.56 parts per billion, allowing for 14 times more 1,3-D in the air farmworker communities breathe. 

Banned or not approved in 34 countries, 1,3-D is the third most used pesticide in the Monterey Bay region, at more than one million pounds in 2021.(1) More than 88% of all 1,3-D applications by pounds occurred in the 14 Latino-majority Monterey and Santa Cruz County zip codes. In those 14 zip codes -- accounting for 45% of land area and 47% of the overall population of our region – is where more than three-quarters (77%) of Latinos and two-thirds (66%) of Indigenous people live, but only 18% of White (“Not Hispanic”) people live.(2) The impact of DPR’s proposal, to create a separate and 14 times weaker standard of protection for Latino and Indigenous farmworker communities where most 1,3-D is applied, is racist. 

The three pesticide air monitors the State has employed in Monterey County at Ohlone Elementary School (2012-2021), the Salinas airport (2011-2016), and in Chualar (2017-2019) have all registered average air concentrations far above OEHHA’s lifetime cancer risk warning level of 0.04 parts per billion.(3) We are outraged that DPR’s proposed regulation does not require action to reduce such harmful levels of 1,3-D. 

DPR must create a 1,3-D regulation that will limit air concentrations to 0.04 parts per billion, the safe harbor level established for all Californians by OEHHA. 

On behalf of the members of Safe Ag Safe Schools, Yanely Martinez.

1 Monterey County applied 783,508 pounds of 1,3-D; Santa Cruz County, 239,251, for a total of 1,022,759.

https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pur/pur21rep/top5lists/top_5_chemical_subtotals_by_pounds_applied.pdf

2 “Table 3c: Race (Hispanic Exclusive) and Hispanic Origin” for demographic Zip Code Tabulation Areas at the US Census Bureau (https://dof.ca.gov/reports/demographic-reports/census-2010/) for total population, “White alone, Not Hispanic,” “Hispanic or Latino,” and “American Indian and Alaska Native alone, Not Hispanic” populations; https://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org for square mile data; https://calpip.cdpr.ca.gov/main.cfm for 1,3-D use by pounds by zip code, yielding 908,750 pounds within the following majority Latino zip codes: 93450, 93901, 93905, 93906, 93925, 93926, 93927, 93930, 93954, 93960, 95012, 95019, 95039, 95076.

3 Ohlone Elementary: 0.10 ppb annual average, DPR presentation to Pesticide Registration and Evaluation Committee, “2021 1,3-D Ambient Air Monitoring Results,” slide 29. Salinas airport: 0.09 ppb, “Air Monitoring Network Report: A Comprehensive Evaluation of Results (2011 – 2016),” DPR, June 2018, p. 38. Chualar east well: 0.06 ppb, DPR presentation to the Pesticide Registration Evaluation Committee, “2019 1,3 D Ambient Air Monitoring Results,” slide 29.

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From the editor: If you would like to support Martinez's plea you can write emails to the Department of Pesticide Regulation before the May 31 5pm deadline. Also, attend the 9:30am May 31 Zoom Hearing about the 1,3-D regulation.

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Choco Ate the Pillars of Creation

By Woody Rehanek

Strange silver birds wafted through 

the feathered sky--an odd omen.

I had it all laid out that day:

a fresh new high-res NASA photo 

 of Eagle Nebula's Pillars of Creation: 

a star nursery 6,500 light years 

from Earth, with astonishing columns

 of stardust birthing brand new stars.

Meanwhile on our block, shrill street

sweepers & garbage trucks whizzed by

like rogue asteroids on a mission.

Choco, the Adamski's Chihuahua terrier,

went whack-dog crazy that day,

growling & galumphing with glee

& chewing everything in sight,

including gloves & my photo 

of The Pillars of Creation. His

tooth marks just missed

the tender red shoots

of fresh newborn stars.

Oscars for Young Filmmakers

By SARAH RINGLER

Edward James Olmos's Latino Film Institute's Youth Cinema Project, the Watsonville Film Festival and the Pajaro Valley Unified School District will present their 4th annual Oscar's night, May 23, 4-9pm, at the Mello Center for the Performing Arts at 250 Beach St. Watsonville.

Students from Starlight Elementary School, Hall District, Pajaro Middle School, Cesar Chavez Middle School and Pajaro Valley High School, who over the past year have worked with filmmakers to write scripts, produce, direct and edit their films, will present their productions. The general public is invited to the free event.

Ed Porter: Teacher, Mentor and Policymaker 

"Remember Why You Live in Santa Cruz"

By CHRIS KROHN

Photo from ED PORTER'S WEBPAGE

Santa Cruz lost one of its most selfless, reliable, and outspoken public servants in the early morning hours of April 28. Former City Councilmember, Santa Cruz High teacher, and Lockheed engineer, Ed Porter, died from a series of medical complications after suffering a fall in his home. He was 78 years old. Porter lived for more than 40 years in a stucco house at the end of Lighthouse Avenue adjacent to one of the open-space trophies of Santa Cruz’s epic progressive era, Lighthouse Field. He surrounded his home with lots of trees-- pines and live oaks—because he believed in maintaining a vibrant urban forest. After taking early retirement from Lockheed Missile and Space Division as a senior engineer, he taught about computers at Santa Cruz High from 1979-2011. Ed was an environmentalist, humanitarian, mentor, and public policy wonk who was involved in some of the most ambitious and legendary Santa Cruz local political issues, the ones that would shape this community’s progressive agenda, and legacy, for years to come.

Ed Porter was elected to the Santa Cruz city council at the beginning of the millennium and became embroiled in some of this community’s most contentious issues like mobile home rent control, the fight for a living wage, and the struggle to save the Homeless Garden Project. While a councilmember, Porter delivered key votes in saving the Del Mar Theater on Pacific Ave. and to transform Salz Tannery into an arts and affordable housing complex. It was his council votes too that brought home a skate park, senior housing on Gault Street, increased homeless services funding, and the Beach Street 2-way bike lane. Of course, his earlier neighborhood activist efforts were key in the development of Lighthouse Field Park. 

During his second run for council in 2004, he edged out both former councilmembers Mark Primack and Scott Kennedy and won the fourth council seat in that election. Porter often credited his winning margin to his former S.C. High students who were able to survive the tight housing market. Ed was never one to shy away from a just political fight. In 2005, for example, Ed went head-to-head with then-Mayor, Mike Rotkin, in dueling opinion pieces in the fight over what the Dream Inn would become. Among Ed’s numerous reasons for opposing this former massive hotel project proposal was the impact on the next door residents of Clearview Court mobile home park, the “inadequate traffic plan,” and most significantly, “the project did not conform to our General Plan…” And guess what? Porter prevailed in helping protect our community’s beach front from a 6-level parking garage and convention hotel!

Edward Benson Porter, Jr., was born in Detroit, MI on Sept. 4, 1944. He attended the University of Detroit High School and graduated from the Detroit Electronics Institute of Technology with a degree in electronics. Porter left Michigan when he was 21 and headed for Sunnyvale. He moved to Santa Cruz in 1974.  His father, Edward Benson Porter, Sr. (1910-1985) was born in Idaho and his mother, Winifred Mary Heinrich Porter (1917-2011) was a Detroiter. Ed was a Santa Cruz resident for almost 50 years, and he once wrote, “Living along the Pacific Ocean was my dream since I was six years old!” He often said that Country Joe McDonald’s song, “Paradise With an Ocean View,” was about him living in Surf City. Porter is survived by two loving sisters, Dona M. Porter of Chicago, Illinois and Patricia Porter of Portland, Oregon, ten cousins, and more than 30 local Santa Cruz friends who sat next to his bedside during his final days. 

Right up until the time of death, Ed was a fierce critic of the market-rate high-rise housing that has often left behind middle-class locals and our community’s homeless. He was a consistent voice for affordable housing, alternative transportation, and environmental protection. Porter was a member of the People’s Democratic Club, an ardent advocate for Personal Rapid Transit, an avid photographer, and often could be seen on weekends at the Watsonville airport, either teaching flying or piloting his own Cessna 150 high above the community he loved. Involved until the end in local political campaigns, Ed supported and campaigned for winning candidates, Councilmember Sandy Brown and Supervisor Justin Cummings. 

“Remember Why You Live in Santa Cruz” was Ed’s campaign slogan the second time he ran for city council and it should give us all pause to consider what it means amidst the current atmosphere of hyper-development. Porter will be remembered as someone who cared deeply about this community and who developed from neighborhood activist to elected official, and made a difference.

A memorial mass for Ed Porter is scheduled for Sat., June 3 at 1pm at Shrine of St. Joseph, 544 West Cliff Dr., Santa Cruz.

Update on the Oversized Vehicle Ordinance

By REGGIE MEISLER

So the Oversized Vehicle Ordinance ultimately passed commission— despite a valiant effort by Commissioners Cummings, Harmon, and Uranga, who were advocating strongly for its rejection. Thanks to Commissioner Cummings, however, the final permit was amended to exempt home owners from the rules entirely and mandate that 72-hr notices be given before tow orders can occur for violating overnight parking (thereby basically reverting that part back to 72-hour rule), which is a great improvement that will protect a lot of people.

Another positive is that coastal commission staff have told me that they will include Santa Cruz Cares, ACLU, and probably anyone else we pitch, like Evan Morrison, as “stakeholders” for ensuring permit compliance.

While the overall outcome is not what we hoped for, I think that, as stakeholders, we have the opportunity to do a lot of policy shaping over the next year. I’m imagining we literally just try to redefine tier 1 & 2 to be “put services on Delaware for 24/7 access”. This would mimic what Mountain View has, a stretch of city streets where oversized vehicle parking is simply allowed and supported with services. Please reach out if you have other ideas.

It seems like experimentation was the name of the game when commission approved this for a year, and so I am going to lean into that spirit, and I think that, after having met them in-person, it seems like coastal staff are supportive of us doing that too.

Thank you to everyone for all of your support and encouragement. I’m optimistic that we have the ingredients to make things better here. You can email me.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA 

A northern mockingbird rests on a plantstand while building a nest in a nearby pine tree.

Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report

By SARAH RINGLER

The California Department of Public Health now reports on Covid-19 for The Santa Cruz County Health Department. They regularly release data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county. There have been no new deaths in the county since Dec. 15. Since cases are still appearing, and there are still vulnerable people, I will continue reporting the graphs below.

The three graphs below give a picture of what is happening currently. The first graph below shows the Rt Number. Numbers above one show the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing.

The second graph below shows data that the Health Department collects for Covid from wastewater at the City Influent, for the city of Santa Cruz, and from the Lode Street pump stations for the county.

The third graph below shows hospitalizations. Click to see more information on hospitalizations HERE.



The vaccination data for the county has stayed fairly constant increasing very little over time. Go HERE for new information on vaccination records, treatments, vaccines, tests, safety in the workplace and more.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Fashion Street - Although this is not my crochet project, I have loved to crochet since I learned how to do it when I was twelve years old and a woman who I sat next to on a train trip from Chicago to Bakersfied taught me. It has gotten me through the most boring waits at airports, train stations, doctor's waiting rooms and on long road trips.

Labor History Calendar - May 12-18, 2023

a.k.a Know Your History Lest We Forget

May 19, 1920: Miners win battle of Matewan over Baldwin-Felts gun thugs in West Virginia.

May 19, 1925: Birth of Malcom X, Black revolutionary organizer.

May 19, 2017: 4,000 Haitian garment workers strike to double wages. 

May 20, 1933: Rubber workers strike in Akron, Ohio.

May 20, 1999: 2,000 carpenters launch wildcat strike in San Francisco. 

May 21, 1946: US government seizes coal mines to break national strike.

May 22, 1911: Trolleymen return to work after 10-day strike defending fired union activists. City-wide general strike wins all demands on May 25 in Montevideo, Uruguay. 

May 23, 1838: 4,000 Cherokee die in the “Trail of Tears’” forced removal. 

May 23, 1946: US railroad strike starts, later crushed when Truman threatens to draft strikers.

May 23, 2008: IWW songwriter U. Utah Philips dies. 

May 24, 1990: IWW organizers Bari and Cherney bombed in Oakland, CA.

May 24, 2017: 175,000 construction workers strike across Quebec over schedules. 

May 25, 1962: AFL-CIO launches campaign for the 35-hour week.

Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.

“If you turn the other cheek, you can be enslaved for 1,000 years.”



Malcom X

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Sweet and Spicy Chinese Chicken

By SARAH RINGLER

Although this is not quite like the Kung Pao chicken served in Chinese restaurants around our area, this is a wonderful dish. For one thing, it is made with crispy fried drumsticks and thighs instead of cubes of chicken meat and the glaze is sweeter and stickier than the usual. The recipe was adapted from Graham Elliot's 2015 "Cooking Like a Master Chef" from Watsonville Public Library. It is an exciting cookbook with a lot of trendy ideas and techniques. 

It is also exciting because I don't believe this recipe was tested before being printed in the book. I was instructed to bring the rice wine vinegar and mirin, a total of 2 1/2 teaspoons of liquid, to a boil and cook until the liquid was reduced by half. That would not have given me enough sauce to coat a peanut. So, I added a half cup of water and it worked well. It's not too big of a deal. Just be assured that I never present a recipe that I haven't tried and enjoyed myself. Therefore, if there is an error, you can blame me. 

Chinese Kung Pao, also called Gong Bao, Kung Po or Hula Jiding during the Cultural Revolution, is from Sichuan Province in southwest China. It was named in honor of a revered 19th century Qing Dynasty minister, Ding Baozhen, according to the Internet Archive WayBackMachine. How nice of the people to remember a good leader by naming a dish after them. During the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 in China, it was considered inappropriate to honor the imperial classes so the name was changed to a more proletarian and direct name, Hula Jiding - roughly translated as "chicken cubes quick fried with chiles." 

This dish has the kind of ingredient list that can really start filling up your refrigerator. Most of the ingredients last a long time. Two confusing ingredients are mirin, which like sake is a rice wine, and rice wine vinegar, which is rice wine that has been fermented and become acidic. You could substitute sherry or sake for mirin and cider vinegar with a little sugar added for rice wine vinegar. Hot sauce can be used instead of the sambal chili sauce.

Kung Pao Drumsticks with ginger honey and toasted peanuts

1/2 cup honey

1 tablespoon plus 1 tablespoon minced ginger

4 cups high heat oil for frying plus a few tablespoons

1 tablespoon minced shallots

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon mirin

1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon hoisin sauce

1/2 teaspoon sambal chili sauce

3 green onions, minced

1/2 cup chopped toasted salted peanuts

4 trimmed chicken drumsticks or thighs

Put honey and 1 tablespoon of the minced ginger in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over very low heat. Cook gently for about 5 minutes. 

In another saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add shallots, garlic and remaining 1 tablespoon of minced ginger and sauté for 1-2 minutes or until shallots are translucent. Add water, vinegar and mirin and bring to a rapid simmer. Cook for 30 seconds or until reduced by half. Add soy sauce, hoisin and chili sauce and simmer for 5 minutes longer or until liquid thickens.

Toast the peanuts by spreading them in a dry skillet with a little salt. Cook over medium high heat for about 1 minute shaking the pan until nuts are lightly browned. Cool and chop. In another medium bowl combine the green onions with the peanuts.

Wash and dry chicken. Deep fry chicken in hot oil that is 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes depending on size. Juices should run clear when you pierce the leg or thigh at its thickest part. Remove from oil and put on paper towels to drain. You can also bake the chicken. First rub salt and pepper over the skin and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour. 

Put the cooked chicken parts in the bowl with the shallot-mirin sauce and toss to coat. Then add each chicken part to the bowl with peanuts and green onions. Roll to coat. Put in a serving bowl and drizzle with the honey ginger sauce. Serve with rice and greens.

Welcome to Serf City Times Our county has problems and many people feel left out. Housing affordability, racism and low wages are the most obvious factors. However, many groups and individuals in Santa Cruz County work tirelessly to make our county a better place for everyone. These people work on the environment, housing, economic justice, health, criminal justice, disability rights, immigrant rights, racial justice, transportation, workers’ rights, education reform, gender issues, equity issues, electoral politics and more. Often, one group doesn’t know what another is doing. The Serf City Times is dedicated to serving as a clearinghouse for those issues by letting you know what is going on, what actions you can take and how you can support these groups.This is a self-funded enterprise and all work is volunteer. 

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