Category Archives: Coast Weakly

Election 2008

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Vote Machine
Davis had served his time, but was re-appointed when Dan Cort was appointed as Mayor. Nilmeier – that was a short term, after a fuss about her questioning her residency. Above all, Say No To Goldbeck

Two of the three incumbents whose terms are expiring– Susan Nilmeier and Daniel Davis – say they will not run for re-election in November. The third incumbent, Scott Miller, says he hasn’t decided yet. Last week, we reported that former councilwoman Susan Goldbeck will bid for a fresh stint on the council. Two other P.G. gadflies, Carmelita Garcia and Bill Kampe

Election 2008

Do We Really Need Susan Goldbeck’s “Talent”?

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Wasn’t it sloppy management during her first terms that got us deeper into the mess we are in today?

Goldbeck 1 grand

Speaking of city leaders and funny money, Squid’s not sure what to make of former-and-would-be-future Pacific Grove city councilwoman Susan Goldbeck.

Recently, after repeated demands, the Weekly sales department received a long-overdue check for a Backpage ad– for a whopping $140. A few days later a notice from the bank arrived, saying the account is closed.

Do We Really Need Susan Goldbeck’s “Talents”?

Susan Goldbeck Wants To Return To Council

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Just when we were starting to turn the corner on the “city in trouble” thing she wants to come back and return it to the way it was when she was in office.How About No Bear

Former Pacific Grove City Councilwoman Susan Goldbeck has announced her plan to run for City Council—again. Goldbeck served on the council from 2002 to 2006 but lost her 2006 bid for mayor.

“Pacific Grove has been having some pretty tough seas lately,” says Goldbeck, a local attorney.”Maybe I can help get our little ship of state right again.”

Some Goldbeck stories from the past:

Don’t vote for her, please.

Susan Goldbeck Wants To Return To Council

Sustainable P.G. – Noble Cause Or Ego Trip?

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The discrepancy between SPG’s big presence and small volunteer pool has caught the attention of P.G. sisters Pat and Sally Herrgott. “I’m confused about what kind of an organization they are,” Pat Herrgott says. “They’re just a loose group of people with similar objectives. To me, they seem more like a political action committee than a nonprofit.”

At only 2 years old, Sustainable Pacific Grove has taken up a big public presence: hosting eco-booths at Good Old Days; running green cleaning and worm composting workshops; developing criteria for the new P.G. Farmers Market; lobbying for a regional ban on polystyrene take-out containers; and outfitting the eco-hub known as The Green Spot with an edible garden, fog collector and cisterns.

Edible Garden? The Brown Green Spot is a collective of weeds, garbage and fire hazards.

Three foot high weeds and discarded coffee cup (not a styrofoam cup!)green spot trash

Broken glass to play with.green spot glass

Using old news as moisture barrier? Looks more like litter.
green spot news

The collective of rubbish and unsafe lead acid storage batteries.
green spot dump

Sustainable P.G. – Noble Cause Or Ego Trip?

P.G. Looking For A Full Time Lawyer

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City Hall Help Wanted

To haul itself out of financial quicksand, the City of Pacific Grove has slashed jobs and shrunk services. Now, city leaders are looking to lighten legal costs by hiring a salaried city attorney.

David Laredo reckons his firm is giving P.G. a good deal. For the past year, he says, De Lay & Laredo has billed the city a flat monthly retainer fee for basic legal services, including attendance at City Council and Planning Commission meetings, reviews of city contracts and ordinances, and responses to public record requests. This fiscal year the city will pay about $130,000 in retainer fees, by Colangelo’s estimate. But if the firm had billed the city for every hour worked, Laredo says, the total would have been closer to $200,000.

Despite P.G.’s high payout to contracted lawyers, Laredo questions the cost-effectiveness of hiring a staff attorney. On top of salary and benefits, he says, the city would have to pony up legal library fees, malpractice insurance, postage, copying, state bar fees and continuing education costs.

P.G. Looking For A Full Time Lawyer

Central Ave Bakery On The Deathwatch List

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Central Ave Bakery Final Week

The water pollution control agency later cut the bakery’s outstanding sewer fees in half, according to business co-owner Tina Thompson. But the high water bills, coupled with slower business, have driven the young bakery to near-bankruptcy, she says. Thompson expects Central Avenue to close its doors in about a month unless investors or a surge in revenue revive it.

Central Ave Bakery On The Deathwatch List

Why Do They Call It The Green Spot?

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Looks real brown to me.

Green Spot Dump 2

Substainable P.G. cannot get enough gray water to sustain a few weeds. It’s been there a month, and there never seems to be anyone there. There really is not much interest in this sustainable stuff beyond the small cult of Agenda 21 followers.

For the past several months, three groups have been working to render the neglected little spot green. The one-room building’s 650 square feet are rather drab at first glance, but it’s a work in progress. Applied Solar employees have hung photos of local photovoltaic installations along one wall. Sustainable PG’s Joy Colangelo painted waves, stars and a jellyfish over the bullet holes in the window.

Ultimately, the G-Spot’s enthusiasts envision the space as a magnet for eco-oriented meetings, potlucks and live music – a place for the community to experiment in shades of green.

Why Do They Call It The Green Spot?

P.G. Caretaking Company Had Employees With Criminal Past

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The Monterey County District Attorney recently settled a civil suit that accuses a Pacific Grove elderly care company of false advertising led to placing personal attendants with criminal records in the homes of seniors. Central Coast Senior Services allegedly hired several employees without conducting background checks while, at the same time, advertising that the company screens all employees.

Senior Services has agreed to pay $125,000 in penalties to the district attorney and $50,000 in restitution to Seaside-based Legal Services for Seniors as part of the judgment filed March 26.

P.G. Caretaking Company Had Employees With Criminal Past

Downtown Farm Reborn?

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This is the Green Spot, a collaboration between Applied Solar and two local environmental groups. Only a few months old, the quirky little property is evolving into a vortex for all things local and green.

Three groups will unveil the Green Spot at the Good Old Days celebration. Fifteen booths, displays and demos will show locals how to shrink their eco-footprints by planting trees, building compost bins, installing solar-energy systems, setting up cisterns, cleaning green, curbing trash and auditing home energy use.

Can I get a tax cut for this? How much more would Jose the gardener charge to compost my lawn trimmings? Is cabbage resistant to deer and raccoon poo? Do you really think the weekender homeowners are really going to buy this? Judging by the mountains of trash the businesses create, it shows that they wont. Who’s left to join the compost club, the dozen or so frequent attendees to the city council meetings?Brevity Comic Hippie 080609

Downtown Farm Reborn?

Mayor Cort Wants To Transform Lighthouse Avenue Into A No Car Zone

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If the gas prices keeping tourists away don’t kill downtown this will. If I need to leave the car down or up the hill to go to the bank or hardware store, forget it. I’ll just keep driving all the way to Sand City.

Cort floated an idea that came out of the city’s Economic Advisory Committee. Pacific Grove could close several blocks of Lighthouse Avenue to cars, he said, creating the first “pedestrianized” downtown on the Peninsula.

Murmurs grew until the room was buzzing like a poked beehive. The noise drowned out the mayor’s subsequent comments on water storage and solar roofs.
But City Councilman Alan Cohen, who also sits on the committee and owns Lighthouse Business Center, is skeptical. He worries that commercial rents on Lighthouse – which are already at a premium – could be affected. And he doesn’t like the notion of customers walking several blocks to go shopping, then schlepping their packages back to their cars. “It would close off traffic on a street that brings a lot of people to town,” he says.

Rough estimate of the planned no car zones:

Ban Cars Downtown

Mayor Cort Wants To Transform Lighthouse Avenue Into A No Car Zone