Category Archives: News

Local woman brings rape into spotlight

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*Rape is the most frequently committed violent crime in the U.S. *Most rapists are not strangers: someone the survivor knows commits 80% of all sexual assaults. False accusations account for only 2% of all reported sexual assaults.”

As astounding as the statistics about rape are, putting a real life face and voice to this tragedy is even more astounding. Here is one local woman’s story.

Lea is the single mother of three teenage sons. Up until about three years ago she managed a restaurant where she’d been employed for 20 years. “I had reported an assault nine months prior to the rape and was told that ‘cooks are hard to come by, let it go.’ They (her employers) denied the whole thing. … They turned everybody against me.”

It was heartbreaking, said Lea. “When people think about rape they only think about just that moment, but they don’t about all the other horrible things. I lost my job. A single mom supporting three children of my own and I lost my ability to be able to support them.”

Unlike many rape victims, Lea took her case to trial and won, only to find out that the perpetrator had skipped town and headed for Mexico.

When the trial ended, many of her friends lost patience, expecting her to be able to move on. “I think awareness is what’s most important,” said Lea, who now volunteers much of her time as an advocate at the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center. “It’s just so important to make people aware of the magnitude of what happens to people’s lives. Not just the people that the crime was committed against, but their family, their friends. It’s amazing how many people turned and walked away from me at that point in time. …. I found a whole new family that does understand. I don’t know what I would do if I hadn’t found the Rape Crisis Center.”

The most important thing about being an advocate for a rape survivor is to make them feel safe and supported, said Lea. “It takes a lot of heart and a heart that cares about another’s feelings. We don’t all have to be survivors to be an advocate. We have to be people that care. I’m so glad that people are out here and want to listen, because it’s so important. It’s a silent tragedy. That’s what rape is; it’s a silent tragedy.”

For more information about the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center call 963.6832 or visit www.sbrapecrisiscenter.org. There is also a 24-hour hotline number: 564.3696.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on April 22, 2004.

Westside story on the Web

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Neighborhood activist building Internet community

Using new technology to foster good, old-fashioned neighborliness, Harriet Marx recently launched sbwestside.org, an interactive Web site designed to promote community involvement.

Westside neighbors began holding community cleanup days over the summer, and Marx came home from one with such a good feeling that she wanted to find a way to build on and sustain that sense of neighborhood togetherness.

“It was a hot day, and yet all these people came out, and they were so enthusiastic,” she said. “There was just a really good feeling there and so when I came home from that I was just kind of high from it actually. … It was about the sense of community, and I thought you know if they had something to sustain that on a continual basis.”

Marx had seen the Scripps Ranch community come together via the Internet after being devastated by fires and wanted to develop a similar kind of site for her own neighborhood. Coincidentally, her husband, Henry, was developing an interactive Web site for students at Brooks Institute, so he had the technical skills to bring her vision to life.

The site features announcements about neighborhood events, helpful links, free classified ads and online discussion forums about community concerns. The forums already include threads such as a property owner seeking input on how to develop the site at 517 W. Figueroa St. as well as a wish list of neighborhood improvements such as landscaping the entrance to Bohnett Park and putting a coffee shop somewhere on San Andreas Street.

The site is free and open to the public. Marx encourages her neighbors to come check it out.

“We hope that it encourages people to think about ways they can connect in a positive way with their neighbors and just do good stuff,” she said.

“We think this is the future … the ability to have people connect so easily, communicate so easily. I think this is a step in the right direction, using technology for an old-fashioned purpose.”

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on April 11, 2004.

City planners aim to define standards

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Based on the philosophy that “we know what we like (or don’t like) when we see it,” Santa Barbara City Planners are reaching out to the community to help define standards for residential designs.

More than 100 people gathered recently — in the first of a series of neighborhood visual survey workshops — using nifty real time technology to evaluate pictures of houses based on whether they were suitable for Santa Barbara and if the size of the home was compatible with the size of the lot. Participants were also asked their views about the evaluation and notification processes for renovations of homes in their neighborhoods.

Favorite design features were not surprising, said City Planner Bettie Hennon. All of the top-rated homes featured large front yard setbacks with a lot of green space. Other popular architectural elements included front porches, “wedding caking” of second stories, garage door setbacks or tandem garages and varied rooflines and wall articulations.

The homes locals adamantly disliked were tall (three story), skinny houses without yards, typically seen in other beach communities along the coast.

There are over 23 communities in the state looking at similar regulations to control or guide single family homes, said Mark Broudeur, principal of RRM Design Group, the consulting firm hired to assist the city. He characterized this as a “super size generation,” noting that in 1950, the average size of a single-family home was 983 square feet, which jumped to 2,265 square feet in 2000.

The initial survey also found that 88% of people favored early notification of neighbors doing remodels. In addition, 73% said that remodels in the neighborhood increased the value of their property. More than half of the attendees (58%) said we should set maximum home size per lot size.

The ultimate goal of updating the Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance (nicknamed “The Big House Ordinance”) is to restructure new single-family home and remodel regulations to reflect community preferences and expectations. Planning staff and the steering committee — comprised of representatives from City Council, the Planning Commission, the Architectural Board of Review, the Historic Landmarks Commission and the Allied Neighborhood Association — will make recommendations on topics like ABR review triggers, neighborhood compatibility definitions, neighbor project notification protocol and potential additional regulations related to floor to area ratios.

Smaller neighborhood workshops will be held to discuss more specific guidelines. Here is the schedule:

Upper East and Downtown: April 7 at 6:30 p.m. in the MacKenzie Park Meeting Room.

Eastside and Westside: April 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Louise Lowry Davis Center.

Mesa: April 21 at 6:30 p.m. at SHIFCO, 418 Santa Fe Place.

Hillside Areas: April 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the MacKenzie Park Meeting Room.

Northside and Hitchcock: May 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the MacKenzie Park Meeting Room.

For more information contact Heather Baker at 564.5470 or hbaker@ci.santa-barbara.ca.us.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon

RV Ordinance Parked

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Councilman Das Williams’ effort to tweak the city’s RV parking ordinance — to allow violators to enroll in an authorized overnight parking program, rather than pay the fine or have their vehicle towed — fell just short of approval on Tuesday night.

The proposal came about a year after the City Council passed controversial new laws, in an effort to drive RV dwellers off city streets.

The program has generally been touted as a success. There were an estimated 300- 400 RVs parked on city streets last year. Today Lt. Paul McCaffrey of the Santa Barbara City Police Department projects there are between 20 and 40 vehicles.

When the law was passed, Catholic Charities stepped in to coordinate a program to allow RV dwellers to park legally overnight in specified lots. New Beginnings, a counseling center that provides assistance with job placement, substance abuse, communication and other life skills, will take over that program in April.

Recently additional churches and nonprofits have allowed RVs to park in their lots at night, but there is some debate as to whether the remaining people living in their vehicles will take advantage of the legal parking program.

“People have to know about a program in order to participate in it,” said Councilwoman Helene Schneider, who supported Williams’ proposal. Schneider also serves on the City-County Homeless Advisory Committee.

” It’s not a lack of information that’s keeping people out of lots. I have the feeling that they are very much aware of the resources that are available to them,” said Lt. McCaffrey. “The shelters are not always filled to capacity and there are people that sleep outdoors. On the surface it’s a hard thing to understand.”

Williams urged the council to “balance compassion and accountability when dealing with less fortunate members of our community” and support his proposal. However, Mayor Marty Blum pointed out the things the city has done to help the homeless, including funding 5,000 low cost housing units and multiple programs and shelters.

The vote was 4-3, with Mayor Blum and Councilmen Brian Barnwell, Roger Horton and Dr. Dan Secord voting against Williams’ request to have staff work on the changes. Williams and Councilwomen Iya Falcone and Schneider favored the effort.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on March 25, 2004.

Hillside House, neighbors at odds

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Hidden Valley residents decry ‘out of context’ expansion.

One of Santa Barbara’s last parcels of open space — in Hidden Valley — may be turned into apartments and condominiums if Hillside House’s development proposal is approved.

The project was presented to the public as a way for the nonprofit Hillside House to ensure its financial future, which has become precarious in the wake of Medi-Cal cutbacks and the increased costs of nurses, worker’s compensation and the like.

Hillside House owns 27 acres set in a valley off Veronica Springs Road, of which about 10 are developable.

The idea of developing on the property has been floating around for at least 10 years, said Hillside House Executive Director Pam Flynt. But it wasn’t until last summer that Hillside House contacted the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara about building on the site. They’ve since put together a development team — Bermant Development Company, Hillside House, the City and County Housing Authorities and Peikert Group Architects — which is proposing to build 138 affordable and workforce apartments and 40 market-rate condominiums.

While the City of Santa Barbara was quick to approve annexation of the property from the county, “(The proposed) 178 units is a huge development for a city development,” said Mayor Marty Blum. “This is a big deal.”

The unpretentious neighborhood, off Los Positas Road near Portesuello Avenue, still looks much like it did in the 1970s, without the obvious remodels and McMansions to which so many local tracts have succumbed.

Not surprisingly, many of the neighbors are in a swivet about the project’s mass and potential traffic impacts. “It doesn’t fit into the neighborhood … the size seems completely out of context,” said Shannon O’Bryan, a neighbor who spoke to both the City Council and Planning Commission.

“You’re looking at a perpetuity of traffic jams,” said Brian Burd, another neighbor, who also expressed concern to the City Council that the project would be “greasing the wheels for high-density development of the surrounding neighborhood.”

Neighbor Ken Balmy spoke about the “rather callous disregard for the quality of the neighborhood.” He complained that the project is being “steamrolled through the process.”

While acknowledging that she anticipated a negative response from the neighbors, Flynt disagrees that they should have been informed about the plans earlier. “It was the appropriate time, before we were talking officially to the city. We certainly discussed going to them earlier, but we needed to wait until we had something to tell them. We were putting together … our plan in terms of ideally what we would like to do.”

“I have not heard anyone criticize what we do here or the fact that maybe it’s a service that’s needed and necessary. I think the criticism is about the project and how they feel that’s going to affect them,” said Flynt.

In addition to providing apartments for residents, Hillside House is hoping to be able to provide affordable housing for some of its 75 employees, 15 of whom now commute from outside the South Coast.

The Planning Commission’s initial concept review telegraphed a lot of compromises if the project is to go forward. “I don’t think that the mass, bulk and scale of this is compatible with the neighborhood,” said Commissioner Harwood White, describing the development as “a high-density intrusion into the largest chunk of open space in the region.”

“I wonder about the feasibility, given the serious traffic impacts,” said Commissioner Jonathan Maguire. This is really just the beginning, he said, advising the applicants to expect the Planning Commission review to take a year or more.

The Hillside House team plans to return to the Planning Commission with revisions.

Community Development Director Paul Casey emphasized that the project would require a lengthy review process. “We’re just kind of getting started. … We’ve got a long way to go.”

Hillside House’s new program less restrictive

Along with providing affordable housing for its employees, if the development project is approved it will bring a significant shift in the lives of Hillside House clients. Currently the program’s 59 residents — primarily with cerebral palsy, autism, mental retardation and epilepsy — live together in a dorm atmosphere, with a licensed nurse there 24 hours a day, said Executive Director Pam Flynt.

In the new set-up, residents would live in a less restrictive environment, about six people to an apartment. Rather than an exclusively Hillside House population, the second and third floors of the complex would be rental units.

The opportunity to mainstream residents of Hillside House is a positive value, said Mickey Flacks, who sits on the County Housing Authority.

The Tricounties Regional Center (which makes referrals to Hillside House) would also like to see smaller units and smaller programs, said Flynt. “In each home, there would be a living room, a kitchen (and) they would have some say in creating their own dinner.” She also noted that residents who were capable would be able to help with laundry and other chores.

While there would still be a staff member in each house whenever residents were there (during the day residents are out in the community participating in day programs), 24-hour licensed nursing care would only be available in selected houses whose residents require that level of care.

Reaction from the families has been a little bit mixed, Flynt said. “We’re going to have to work through who’s going to need what level of care, and we’ll be able to have some variety in the types of care that we have in different homes and we can then work with placing our residents in the program that’s going to best meet their needs.”

Other projects pending

Hillside House’s proposed project is just one of many potential changes to the Hidden Valley neighborhood.

The Santa Barbara School Districts owns property nearby. “Originally this site was going to be used as a school site but the development costs are prohibitive and there is declining enrollment,” said Dave Hetyonk, director of facilities and operations. The board recently created a Property District Advisory Committee, tasked to make recommendations about the use of property that is not needed for school purposes.

“They could advise the board to sell, lease, rent or do any number of things,” said Hetyonk, who is hoping for a recommendation by September.

“We’ve tried (to master plan the Hidden Valley area) and made a real effort with the school district about five years ago,” said Community Development Director Paul Casey. “The cost of a connecting road (to Los Positas) was very difficult. … It added $4 million to the school site cost.”

Another player in the area is Valle Verde Retirement Home on Calle de los Amigos, which proposes to convert 63 one-bedroom units to two-bedroom units, potentially doubling its occupancy.

Bill Bertka also owns 57 acres at the end of Alan Road that he would like to develop someday. He told the Planning Commission he would support the Hillside House development and urged them to take other future developments, such as his, into consideration when planning the project.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on March 18, 2004.

Get Your Kicks

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Soccer has dribbled its way into becoming one of the most popular sports in town, but that wasn’t always the case. It was really considered a foreign sport when Cam Camarena came to Santa Barbara to play for UCSB in 1974.

Camarena is credited with bringing AYSO (the American Youth Soccer Organization) to the community in 1976. “I thought that their philosophy was exactly what soccer needed,” Camarena said.

Indeed, the philosophy — based on the concepts that soccer is open to all, everyone plays, and teams are balanced, with an emphasis on positive coaching and good sportsmanship — is still at the forefront of the organization almost 30 years later.

After an initial struggle to popularize the sport — that first year AYSO had just six teams of boys only — over the years Santa Barbara’s seen super moms morph into soccer moms. “Last year we had 256 teams (almost 3,000 kids),” said John Maloney, the AYSO commissioner for this region.

“No matter what happens, you play three-fourths of the game (up from half the game in previous years),” he said. There’s a huge difference between that and more traditional competitive team situations, he said. “But more game time helps develop the skills.”

As their expertise develops, many kids leave behind the politically correct world of AYSO for the more competitive club teams, which has caused some conflicts over the years.

“This town has gone through a little bit of the club wars. We’ve got several prominent soccer personalities

in this town. And different attempts to form a club that kind of reflects the diversity of this town,” said UCSB Men’s Head Coach Tim VomSteeg.

“One of the reasons that everybody hated everybody is that kids were trying to play both (AYSO and club teams) and that upset people because you’re going to let somebody down,” said Camarena.

“(In AYSO) there’s no punishment for not coming to practice,” said Andy Roteman, coach administrator for the organization. Without the balanced team requirement, the kids who play club experience a higher level of competition. “The cream gets to play with the cream,” he said. “We’ve had coaches take their team club because the kids want to keep playing together. … Then they pay $50 to $60 per month to belong to a club team (versus $80 per season for AYSO), plus tournament fees and traveling. So where is (a) parent going to give their allegiance to?”

Partly in response to the issues between the club teams and AYSO, a soccer coalition was started about two years ago. “We’ve been meeting once a month to work together instead of working against each other. Even though so many kids are involved with soccer, we still have less fields than everyone else because we’re always fighting within ourselves,” said Camarena, who currently coaches the Legends girl’s soccer team. One of the agreements achieved through the coalition is that club teams would not recruit AYSO players during the regular (fall) season.

“As popular as soccer is, I think one thing that has really hurt the overall development at the highest level has been the politics of this town; unfortunately, there always seems to be (politics) at every place you go. You have the recreational people thinking that the competitive level is wrong and vice versa. But I think that has changed in the last two years,” said Camarena.

AYSO’s Maloney agreed that things are improving. Currently, AYSO has a good working relationship with both FCSB and Legends (the two leading clubs in town), he said. “That wasn’t always the case.

“There’s a lot to be gained by the soccer organizations working together. There are not enough soccer fields in Santa Barbara, and the situation may become worse. AYSO has used UCSB’s soccer fields for the past five years, but it doesn’t look too good (that) they’ll be there in the fall,” Maloney said. “When UCSB instituted parking fees last year, it allowed AYSO to pre-sell discount tickets to parents. Now they want to raise fees, plus the new parking services automated system isn’t capable of handling our volume,” said Maloney, who has been working to come to an agreement with the university. In addition to an estimated $60,000 in parking fees, AYSO now pays about $28,000 per year to use the fields and monitor parking. “It definitely isn’t an inexpensive venue.”

If negotiations with USCB fall apart, AYSO has the right of first refusal to use Girsh Park in the fall, Maloney said. It would be less expensive than UCSB, but there are fewer fields, so games would have to be played on Saturdays and Sundays, instead of just Saturdays, which could cause conflicts for some families.

One of the things Camarena would like to see the soccer coalition do is bring the community together to buy land to develop dedicated soccer fields. “It would be a dream come true to have community soccer fields.”

Soccer for grown-ups

Part of the popularity of soccer is attributable to being able to start playing at such a young age — AYSO starts at 41/2 — but opportunities to play also abound for adults.

At the recreational level there’s the “huff and puff league” (HAPCO). “(People) come out there to have fun and don’t worry about the sport; it’s really a social recreational event. They’re probably a bunch of people that never played soccer before but their kids are playing, so they’re now trying to come out and play themselves a bit,” said Dennis Van Alphen, who founded the website SBSoccer.com five years ago as a resource for centralized local soccer information.

Also popular for moms and dads was the PAYSO (parents of AYSO league) that later turned into the more competitive Santa Barbara Adult Soccer League, said Van Alphen. Limited to players 30 years and older, he said, the league is “still competitive but not as competitive as the others. There are guys that are over 50 but the majority are in their late 30s.”

He said the best league in town is the Central Coast League. “One of the teams, Durango, just won the state’s championship a week ago. … They have a bunch of players from Westmont and SBCC and UCSB, among other players that are at a good level.”

There’s also the Southern Union Soccer League, said Van Alphen. Finding enough fields is a challenge for the adult leagues as well as the kids. He said the only fields with lights that are available to adult leagues are at La Colina and Santa Barbara junior high schools.

For more information on adult soccer, visit www.SBSoccer.com.

Paying the way to play

With so much focus on youth soccer, there’s some debate as to whether it really paves the way to a college scholarship, as some parents seem to think. “In Division 1, you are allowed basically 9.9 full scholarships and most teams carry a roster of 30 full time players. We have eight scholarships, so we’re not quite fully funded,” said UCSB Men’s Head Soccer Coach Tim VomSteeg.

“The potential of a kid receiving money is very small in terms of the scheme of things. … At USCB we average about 20 emails and letters a day from players, four to five tapes a week. … If I go on a trip for week or something you’ll have 90-100 emails from kids,” said VomSteeg, whose team has been ranked in the top 20 for the past two years. There are 200 Division 1 colleges, and probably six new players added to each program each year, so that’s 1,200 spots opening up, he said.

The competition starts early. Top players from AYSO are routinely recruited to play on club teams where the talk of college begins in earnest. “Mostly what will happen is you’ll go to a major tournament and you’ll put out a thing with your name and stats, so you can email (college coaches),” said Julia Bottiani, a Goleta Valley Junior High eighth grader who “plays up” on the Legends under-19 team. “My coach, he tells all the juniors, ‘you should be emailing to the schools you want to go to.’ ”

Of the graduates of the last year’s two Legends teams, coach Cam Camarena said at least 25 are playing college soccer on scholarships, an impressively high percentage.

Division 1 coaches are allowed five evaluations of a player, so club tournaments are very efficient. “The top kids are all playing against each other. With top clubs, (you) have a good change to see kids that are not only good players but are playing against good players,” said VomSteeg. There’s very little chance of a San Diego State recruiter coming to Santa Barbara to watch a high school game.

With more and more kids playing in this country, VomSteeg says soccer is really reaping the benefits. “We’re able in soccer, for the first time, to pick up the really good athletes that in years before would have played other sports. Thanks to really good contracts for pros, what’s changed now, we have some kids that would have played basketball or baseball, and instead they are choosing to play soccer.”

Behind the scenes of Soccer Moms

‘Hotter than the other moms” is the reputation Santa Barbara soccer moms have around the tournaments. They’re fitter and more stylish, said playwright David Starkey, who takes an entertaining look at the force behind the sidelines with his play, Soccer Moms, opening tonight at the Center Stage Theatre. “You go away to tournaments and they’re checking each other out at the breakfast bar.

“The intensity of the moms on the sidelines was really astonishing to me,” said the poet and English professor, who three years ago migrated from Chicago to marry into an enthusiastic soccer family.

“I thought you could do a play where all the action takes place on the sidelines.” While true soccer moms focus on the field “with laser-like attention for whole game,” in the play, the parents also have their share of offsides R-rated adventures.

Set in Santa Barbara, Starkey’s “gentle satire” has played in North Hollywood and Seattle, but tonight will be its local debut. After one show, Starkey heard a theatergoer say, “I hope no one from Santa Barbara is in audience.” But he thinks people will enjoy laughing at themselves. No one more so than his wife, Sandy, whom he describes as “one of the more intense soccer moms in town.

“Real life is not nearly the soap opera I make it out to be … but there are some cases of life imitating art,” Starkey said.

For example, in the play one of the moms gets a personal trainer to help her daughter’s soccer. “I wrote that and then subsequently Sandy got a personal trainer for (daughter) Julia,” he laughed.

Soccer Moms is the premier show of New Bard Productions, founded by Starkey and Jinny Webber. E. Bonnie Lewis directs a cast that includes Michelle Osborne, Deborah Helm, Tiffany Story and Mike Walker.

Soccer Moms plays at the Center Stage Theatre, upstairs in Paseo Nuevo, at 8 p.m. today through Saturday with a 2 p.m. Feb. 28 matinee. Tickets are $15 general admission and $13 for student and seniors. Call 963.0408 or visit www.centerstagetheatre.org.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon

CALM Design House Showcases View

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The first thing that strikes you is the view. Not only can you see the forest through the trees, but the ocean glimmers invitingly through the oaks as well. Talk about a perfect canvas. Architect William Harrison took full advantage of the prime property in creating this spectacular Montecito showhouse to benefit CALM.

Harrison described the house as mission revival with a heavy arts and crafts influence, but there’s really only one word for the property at 610 Cima Vista Lane — gorgeous.

For 20 years, CALM has raised money locally for child abuse prevention and assistance services through design showcases. “This is a departure for us, our homes in the past have had different designers in each room,” said CALM Development Director Rebecca J. Adler.

While the long-established form of showhouse fundraisers have been very popular and will continue in 2005, this was an offer the nonprofit couldn’t refuse. Traditional Home Magazine, which does showhouses across the country, had paired with Harrison Design Associates to produce the home in Montecito as an editorial feature when they approached CALM about being the charity beneficiary. “It was really exciting to hear about … the scale and grandeur of this project for us. And also to call the other charities who Traditional Home had participated with, they all said, ‘this is the best thing that’s every happened to us,'” said Adler.

Built around a nine-acre protected oak tree conservancy, the house is impressive for its serene beauty and its feeling of being at one with the land, which is even more impressive considering it was built and furnished to perfection in just one year.

“All of the players here are equally as important,” said Robert Young, west coast editor of Traditional Home. “… You have Harrison (Design Associates) who’s the architect and they also are the developer, and Giffin and Crane is the contractor, CALM is the charity, then Barry Dixon is the (interior) designer and Katie O’Reilly Rogers is the landscape architect. … We gave over 100 percent and 200 percent and they’ve delivered. Everybody’s just been extraordinary and everybody’s enjoyed working on it.”

“There was good clear concise direction on this job at all times,” said Geoff Crane president and COO of the builder, Giffin and Crane. “In a project like this, everything has to fall into place at once. The landscaping had to start at a time it wouldn’t normally be starting. As soon as we had an area that we could confine and barricade off (they started) excavation and grading and planting. It was a little unconventional,” said Crane, who credited his Project Manager Lindsey Adams with keeping construction running smoothly.

With the tight schedule, one of the biggest challenges was scheduling. Visitors to the showcase will enter the house through a charming green and white motor court, surrounded by white camellias, white azalea, field grown boxwood and in the center of it all a white cyclamen tree. “We had to crane in this big tree before they finished the arch,” said landscape architect Rogers. “The tree wasn’t ready to be brought up for three weeks and they had to get the arch up because of the stonemason’s schedule.”

“The stone on the side of the house is literally from the land,” said Young. “These are all hand carved from these big boulders that came from Santa Barbara sandstone.” Once you enter the house, the feeling of indoor/outdoor fusion continues, thanks in part to the well-designed windows that maximize the views, and also to Dixon’s extremely textural, almost primal choices. “I think Barry took … this concept of earth, wind and fire and kind of just being inspired by the elements … that are here in Santa Barbara … everything that makes it such a magical place,” said Young.

The master bath’s oversized shower features very unusual glass tile by Walker Zanger, tumbled to look like sea glass. You could get waterlogged trying to choose between that and the dazzling ocean view spa tub. The walls are done in Venetian plaster burnished to a gorgeous glossiness that has to be seen to be believed. “People that come here are seeing the cutting edge products for the home and then they see it used in really creative ways,” said Young.

A favorite room of the architect’s is the outdoor sitting/dining relaxing space overlooking the pool. “You can sit there and watch the sunset over the harbor. Like a little pier or point outside of the house, then, walk outside of that little narrow gangplank and there’s a wonderful view back up into the mountains,” said Harrison.

Also contributing to the serene, peaceful feeling is the yoga/massage room adjacent to a ground floor wine cellar, dining area and screening/game room. “The yoga/massage room is kind of a Zen thing in California,” said Harrison, who has offices in both Atlanta and Santa Barbara. “But we’re seeing it all over the country. … People wanting to have the ability to sort of meditate and relax.”

Under designer Dixon’s touch, clever ideas, juxtapositions of old and new, eastern and western cultures and design inspiration abound. “A showhouse is like a fashion show,” said Young. And this is certainly one show you won’t want to miss.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on February 19, 2004.

Getting Creative With Cancer

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Something magical happens when you tune your mind to its creative side. This was the lesson learned when eight local cancer survivors ventured into The Aphrodite Project. Now the rest of us can tune into that wake-up call, thanks to Santa Barbara filmmakers Jennifer A. Reinish‘s and Justin Thomas Rowe’s documentary, The Aphrodite Project, which premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival last week.

The project was the brainchild of social worker Jo-Anne Blatter, who has worked with people with life-changing illnesses for 27 years. She named the endeavor after the Greek goddess Aphrodite because both were meant to inspire growth, passion and wholeness, by pairing people with cancer (“creators”) with professional artists to create collaborative pieces of artwork.

“A cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence; it’s an order … to live every moment,” said Aaron, one of the creators, who worked with Visual Artist Jill Katz to create a collage out of his medical records and photos of his surgery scarred body.

“Getting close to someone that has the potential of dying on you is pretty heavy,” said Katz. Indeed, watching the growth of the bond between Katz and Aaron, like that of the others, was the icing on an already irresistible cake.

“The focus was not on outcome or product, but rather on the process; on the experience of playing with art and music as a means to heal, and to uncover the mysterious messages that life-changing events tend to urge us to search for,” said Blatter. Not only did the creators bond with their artistic collaborators, they also bonded with one another, a journey documented by the film.

“There was an immediate feeling of camaraderie. We knew what the other people had gone through without having to talk about it,” said Randi, who created “before” and “after” masks with paper mache artist Ginny Valdez. “I felt like I was reconstructing my life by tearing up pieces of paper (to create the mask).”

The film travels from the group’s first meeting in January 2003 to the sharing of their art at a showing in June. “The gallery opening was a really nice finale,” said Ann, who created and recorded a song with help of musicians Dan Zimmerman, Jay Ferguson and Sharon “Muffy” Hendrix Roach.

“I’m in the midst of looking for a home for the project,” said Blatter, who did not have any outside funding. “We’re going to see what the universe brings.”

For more information visit www.theaphroditeproject.com or call Blatter at 682.7313.

The Aphrodite Project will air on channel 17 tonight at 5 p.m., Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 9 p.m. For additional show times visit www.sbchannels.tv.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on February 12, 2004.

Carbajal and Buttny Rack up Community Support

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The 1st and 3rd District Supervisor race is heating up, with several local groups announcing their endorsements. Ten organizations collectively announced their support last week for candidates Salud Carbajal and John Buttny in the supervisor races for 1st and 3rd districts, respectively.

“Salud Carbajal and John Buttny are committed to preserving the two treasures that make this county so wonderful: our environment and our people,” said Vernon Schabert, chair of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Central Committee, in voicing his organization’s support for the candidates.

“They are by far the best choices for working families,” said Mick Robinson of SEIU Local 620.

Also endorsing Carbajal and Buttny were representatives from the Santa Barbara County Action Network, Citizens for Goleta Valley, Democratic Women of Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara Women’s Political Committee, SEIU Local 535, PUEBLO, Santa Barbara County League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club.

Carbajal, currently an executive staff member for retiring 1st District Supervisor Naomi Schwartz, picked up her endorsement as well as that of 2nd and 3rd District Supervisors Susan Rose and Gail Marshall. Carbajal is also supported by Santa Barbara City and County Firefighters.

Earlier in the race, Economist John Gostovich, who is running against Carbajal in the 1st District, picked up endorsements from the Santa Barbara County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, the Santa Barbara County Farm Bureau and the Peace Officers Research Association of California.

Brooks Firestone, Buttny’s opponent in the 3rd District, has been endorsed by the County Firefighters Union and Santa Barbara County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, as well as by 4th District Supervisor Joni Gray, 5th District Supervisor Joe Centeno, and ten former county supervisors. The other two candidates in that race are Rancher Slick Gardner and Businessman Steven Pappas, neither of which has announced any major endorsements.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on February 12, 2004.

Goleta’s general plan crawls along

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“It’s only for a year” was a mantra heard repeatedly in the Goleta City Council‘s discussion of interim general plan policies on Monday night. While the city’s first general plan is not likely to be completed for two to three years, the council provided staff with specific direction on the draft and is likely to approve an interim plan on Mar. 1.

A diverse group from the community offered their input. In fact, just about every developer in town opined on the plan, as did representatives from the Santa Barbara Audubon Society, the League of Women Voters, South Coast Livable Communities, Goleta Valley Beautiful, Goleta Housing Leadership Council, and predictably, community members who have commercial and residential projects in the pipeline.

In the interest of fairness to projects in development — some of which have gone through several years of review — the council decided to exclude them from the new rules and to use Monday’s date, Jan. 26, as the cutoff for projects designated as “in the pipeline.”

“I don’t think it’s fair to change rules in the middle of the game,” said Councilwoman Jonny Wallis, in a position echoed by her colleagues.

The objectives of the interim general plan policies — which are scheduled to go back to the council for final review and public comment on Mar. 1 — are twofold. “We are trying to craft a set of appropriate rules that communicate our expectations to the applicants at the door,” said councilman Jack Hawxhurst. “We are also trying not to take up too much staff time.”

Insufficient staff has been a problem that has plagued the city since its incorporation and, according to Assistant City Manager Luci Romero Serlet; Goleta is still having problems recruiting qualified employees. Regarding staffing the planning department, where applicants have faced significant delays, “Not all of the people that are qualified to be planners find this kind of assignment something they want to get into,” said Serlet. “And contracting isn’t always a suitable option.”

Inadequate staffing was one of the reasons given for the moratorium on approvals of certain development proposals. The moratorium was one of the first actions taken by the council when the city incorporated in February 2002. However, on Monday the council voted unanimously to let the moratorium expire on Feb. 13. “We have accomplished a great deal with this moratorium and it’s time to move on,” said Mayor Cynthia Brock.

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on January 29, 2004.