Pacific Grove Farmers Market Gets The Go Ahead

No one spoke against it, but the sellers of booze and phony charm sure don’t sound very supportive.

On Thursday, the commission voted unanimously to approve a negative environmental impact declaration and a use permit for Everyone’s Harvest to conduct the Farmers Market between 4 and 8 p.m. Mondays on Lighthouse Avenue between Forest Avenue and 18th Street.

“I don’t think it’s possible not to ruffle someone’s feathers,” said Beth Cort, wife of Mayor Dan Cort. “You can’t please everyone. It should be in the center of town.”

No one spoke against the idea of a farmers market in Pacific Grove. Disagreements arose over the time and location.

Pacific Grove Farmers Market Gets The Go Ahead

Golf Fees Going Up

On Wednesday, the City Council voted 5-0 to impose surcharges on holders of annual passes for the Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Course.

Players holding passes will pay $1 for a nine-hole round of golf and $2 for 18 holes, in addition to the annual pass fee.

Resident and avid golfer Jim Willoughby objected to the fee, saying the “nickel-and-dime” surcharge amounted to a 32 percent increase for players like him, who play two rounds a week at the course.

Crybaby Golfer

An annual senior’s pass costs $650, and the surcharge would run up to $208 more a year in his case, Willoughby said, adding that it is an undue burden on seniors living on fixed incomes.

Steve Thomas, a member of the Pacific Grove Men’s Golf Club, said the surcharge “will create ill will.”

At $8.58 per golf round, Willoughby and others are still getting a bargain, said Councilman Dan Davis. Non-residents pay $45 a round.

And if high golf fees pee you off, there’s The UroClub™

Uro Club

The privacy shield hooks to the sides of the pants or belt and adds stability. This allows freedom of the hands to manipulate the club and zipper.

The UroClub™ is intended to eliminate anxiety and any feeling of uneasiness on the course. It can be emptied at the nearest restroom or later on, when the golfer returns home.

Capacity: Over half a liter, twice the volume commonly urinated.

Length: Like a standard 7 Iron

Golf Fees Going Up

Council Votes To End CALPERS

Notice the color changing on the roof of city hall?
Poopy City Hall Roof

Wednesday the City Council voted 5-0 — Councilmembers Vicki Stilwell and Scott Miller were absent — in favor of a resolution of intent to terminate Pacific Grove’s contract with CalPERS, the first step in the process of looking into ending use of the system to fund city employee retirement benefits.

Since the dot-com stock market crash in the late 1990s, the city’s annual contributions to the retirement system jumped from $100,000 then to $2.6 million this year, according to city management and budget director Jim Becklenberg.

CalPERS-guaranteed benefits are mostly financed by income from its investments, which tanked in the market crash, he said.

Council Votes To End CALPERS

Newspaper Racks Chain Themselves To Pole In Protest

The runaway racks chased away from the front of the post office back in April have been spotted gathering in the parking lot on Forest Avenue by the Grove Market.

The rusty or sun-faded dispensers of that obsolete media called newspapers and other pulp goods of dubious value are taking a stand this time. They have chained themselves up to signposts and trees in the traditions of UCSC and UC Berzerkley.News Rack Chained

Farmers Market Might Be Dead As Evening Business Is

Pacific Grove farmers’ market, scheduled to debut in July, will be delayed for at least two weeks — and could be called off altogether this year — because of an advertising blunder in the Monterey County Herald, city officials said.

Scheduled to debut July 7, the farmers’ market will be set back because the Herald failed to print a public hearing notice for last week’s city council meeting in which the market was discussed.

“It’s too bad it will be delayed,” P.G. Mayor Dan Cort told The Pine Cone, “because we are all so excited about the farmers’ market.”

Well, if you can’t buy some vegetables, we can always find you some toast and noodles for about $30 . .

$8 toast at Joe Rombi
8 dollar toast

$21 for a plate of noodles, not even any meat!

20 Dollar Noodles

Farmers Market Might Be Dead As Evening Business Is

Susan Goldbeck Wants To Return To Council

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?

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?

Liquor Store Owner Opposes Farmers Market

What’s behind Ron’s Liquors? A huge free parking lot. People in need of liquor, cigarettes and porn will not be slowed down by a bunch of veggie lovers.

On June 4, the Pacific Grove City Council approved an ordinance allowing public gatherings on Lighthouse, a prerequisite for the farmers market.

But Lighthouse Avenue merchants say the market will hurt them.

“It was supposed to come to town and be something positive for the city,” said liquor store owner David Pollacci.

Instead, he said, it will take business away from merchants.

His business, Ron’s Liquors at 613 Lighthouse Ave., loses 30 percent to 40 percent of its business on days when the street is closed — Good Old Days, the Butterfly Parade, car rallies, the Christmas Parade of Lights and similar events. Pollacci said he doesn’t mind giving up sales from time to time, but shutting down the street once a week would be too big a loss.

Rons Liquors

Liquor Store Owner Opposes Farmers Market

Google Maps’ Street View

Google’s Street View is now available in Pacific Grove (and much more of the Monterey Peninsula).

The original intent of LighthouseAvenue.com was to be a local version of Google Street View combined with Yellow pages. Each address would have a subdomain such as 565.lighthouseavenue.com. I would have sold home pages to stores at each address and become rich. Since I never was a salesperson type, that fell through.

Streetview is neat, check it out.

Google Street view

Google Maps’ Street View

Green, Carbon Neutral, Sustainable, Ghetto

Nothing like making your image of being green and offsetting some CO2 with flower pots outside the business. Live flowers to brighten the day.

But remember that most people don’t give a hoot and use your flower pots for cigarette butts and other trash:
Butts In Flower Pot

After the flowers die from neglect it gets worse:
A Bird In Every Pot

Not sure who takes care of these things – it’s in the 500 bock in front of Monte Cafe.

Green, Carbon Neutral, Sustainable, Ghetto