Scenic Road: City to Decide If It Needs Ten More Trees
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
SCENIC ROAD: CITY TO DECIDE IF IT NEEDS TEN MORE TREES ■ Residents, visitors may prefer to see the sea enough about the plan, the forest and beach commission Allen told The Pine Cone. “But I think the people who live decided to put off a decision on the tree planting until June 3 down by the beach should have input.” By MARY BROWNFIELD so more residents could speak their minds on the matter. Friends of Carmel Forest regularly proposes tree-planting “It was on last month’s agenda, but there were some con- projects, with the group providing and planting the seedlings A CLASSIC Carmel battle is shaping up over proposal cerns about not enough people knowing about it,” city that city workers water and maintain. The idea is to provide by a group of tree advocates to plant nearly a dozen young forester Mike Branson said Wednesday. young trees that will eventually replace some of the Scenic Monterey cypress along Scenic Road. But after a resident of Prominent realtor Tim Allen, who lives near the beach, Road’s magnificent, mature cypress. But the young trees San Antonio Avenue questioned whether the public knew told commissioners he was worried about the trees’ potential grow quickly and within a few years can easily block some- negative effects on land values, according to Branson. “I was born and raised in Carmel, and I love our trees,” See SCENIC page 12A Volume 96 No. 21 On the Internet: www.carmelpinecone.com May 21-27, 2010 Y OUR S OURCE F OR L OCAL N EWS, ARTS AND O PINION S INCE 1915 It’s bird vs. bird at the landfill — Public employee and the birds of prey are winning pensions still going By KELLY NIX through the roof UNTIL JUST two months ago, thousands of shrieking seagulls would converge on the Marina By KELLY NIX landfill every day, distracting workers, pecking through trash and pooping everywhere. IT PAYS to be retired. Perhaps nobody knows that better The coastal birds have long flocked to the than the 80 or so former public workers in Monterey County dump to feast on a smorgasbord of landfill left- who make more than $100,000 per year in retirement pay. overs, such as fast food, chicken bones and rot- In Pacific Grove, there are six retirees, half of them for- ting fruit. mer police officers, who earn as much as $159,000 per year. But that’s all changed. There are new birds in All of them are part of the California Public Employees’ town, and they’re shaking things up. Retirement System, which provides retirement and health “I don’t know where the seagulls are,” benefits to more than 1.6 million public employees, retirees Monterey Regional Waste Management District and their families. general manager William Merry told The Pine Many believe, because of CalPERS’s colossal investment Cone. “But they are not here.” losses, that the system is putting many California cities on Since March, the MRWMD has contracted the brink of bankruptcy. CalPERS lost a staggering $55 bil- with a Turlock company to release falcons and lion in the 2008/2009 fiscal year. other birds of prey to drive all but a few of the seagulls away. Ballot initiative Six days a week, beginning at 6:30 a.m. — PHOTO/KELLY NIX Upset by the cost to the city in what they believe are over- seagull breakfast time — falconer Leonardo This impressive Harris’s hawk is one of several birds of prey used at ly generous pensions, a small group of P.G. residents is gath- Velasquez arrives at the Marina site and releases the Marina landfill to keep away thousands of pesky seagulls. For ering signatures for a ballot initiative that caps the amount one of his raptors, which flies over the hills of years, the annoying gulls relied on the landfill as their source of food. the city contributes to a public employee’s retirement. trash for 15 to 20 minutes at a time to scare the “The purpose of the initiative is to have a city employee often brazen gulls away. for them,” Velasquez said. retirement benefit program that is fair, reasonable and sus- “The plan is to harass [the seagulls] and let them know The seagulls seem to have gotten the message loud and tainable,” according to initiative drive leader Dan Davis, a we are serious,” said Velasquez, who works for Wingmaster clear. former P.G. city councilman. Falconry. “And let them know we don’t want them here.” While as many as 10,000 seagulls used to visit the On Wednesday, Velasquez took four birds to the landfill, landfill each day, now there are only a few “scouts” that See PENSIONS page 9A including Carmen, a 3-year-old Harris’s hawk, and Penny, show up, according to Jeff Lindenthal, MRWMD public a 4-year-old peregrine/prairie falcon hybrid. While Carmen education and recycling manager. didn’t chase the gulls during the morning session, her pres- “For a long time, seagulls were synonymous with our Chimney fire nearly ence was enough to keep them away. “Usually, as soon as the seagulls land, she will just go See BIRDS page 16A destroys home on Lincoln Sunset announces blockbuster new season By MARY BROWNFIELD A CHIMNEY fire spread to the attic and destroyed the By CHRIS COUNTS collaborated with Joplin on many of her biggest hits, includ- top floor of home on Lincoln Street Tuesday night. Alert ing “Piece of My Heart,” “Summertime” and “Ball and neighbors called the fire department, sprayed the roof with a KICKING OFF its 2010/2011 season with a bang, Chain.” hose and assisted the elderly residents in getting out, helping Sunset Center will pay tribute to the Summer of Love and Bolton, meanwhile, will perform Wednesday, Aug. 18. to minimize the damage, according to Carmel Fire Capt. Ian follow it up with a concert by Grammy Award-winning Although he started his career as a heavy metal singer, Watts. singer Michael Bolton. Bolton has established himself as one of soft rock’s biggest “We first received a call at the station from a neighbor Big Brother and the Holding Co. — the band that stars, scoring big hits with covers of classic soul songs, like who said she saw smoke coming from her neighbor’s house,” launched legendary singer Janis Joplin’s career — teams up “Try A Little Tenderness,” “Georgia” and “When a Man with Country Joe McDonald to open the Sunset Center sea- Loves a Woman.” See FIRE page 10A son Saturday, Aug. 7. Even Sunset Center executive director Peter Lesnik — Backing Joplin on her unforgettable “Cheap Thrills” whose job is to bring performers to Carmel — was surprised album, Big Brother by his booking coup. He had hoped to open the season with and the Holding Co. a concert by singer Cindi Lauper, but unable to book the See SUNSET page 16A Among other highlights of the upcoming season, guitar wizard Jonny Lang, left, plays at Sunset Center Friday, Sept. 10. Soft rock megastar Michael Bolton, right, performs on the same stage Wednesday, Aug. 18. PHOTO/CHRIS JOHNSON Firefighters attack a blaze that began in the chimney of a Lincoln Street home Tuesday evening. Get your complete Carmel Pine Cone every Thursday evening in convenient pdf format via email. Free subscriptions available at www.carmelpinecone.com. 2A The Carmel Pine Cone May 21, 2010 Sandy Claws Could address ban be lifted to By Margot Petit Nichols benefit budget? FRANCOIS BALDWIN, 8, and Spencer Gilson, 7, are, respectively, a Shih Tzu/Lhasa apso mix, and a long- By MARY BROWNFIELD legged rat terrier — two guys playing hooky from Paso Robles on Tuesday, enjoying an outing on the walking IT’S TIME for the city’s houses to get numbers, one res- path above Carmel Beach. ident told the city council at its May 4 meeting, to eliminate It was a Carmel summer-like day (chilly and over- the $50,000-per-year cost of private mail delivery in town. cast) at the beach Tuesday afternoon, but there were a Carmel pays a private messenger service to deliver mail to number of dogs playing in the ever-returning sand on the homes of 141 residents — an expense the city can no longer afford, resident Carolina Bayne told the Carmel City the still depleted beach. The water was aquamarine. Council. If the city had street numbers and curbside mail- Franny, short for Francois, and Spencer are good boxes, the U.S. Postal Service would deliver the mail for free. friends who look forward to trips together with their “I’m here because I’m really concerned about several moms. Franny’s Mom Debby and Dad Justin own Justin issues,” she told the council during the public-comment peri- Winery in Paso Robles. They have a second home here od. “One is our budget and our money, and taxpayers paying in Carmel which they visit as often as they can. for certain things that perhaps we could get free.” Spencer’s folks are Sherry and Robert, who own the Ten years ago, an activist who had recently moved to town luxury boutique Hotel Cheval in downtown Paso demanded home delivery of mail. To placate Joe Steinfeld, Robles and have a home in Santa Barbara. Spencer is who only stayed in Carmel a short while before moving to pose — one might almost say a totally disordered pose. Mexico, the city decided to hand-deliver mail to residents a very handsome rat terrier with unusual and attractive Franny’s favorite playthings are tennis balls and a who wanted it, even though the USPS was willing to provide black and cinnamon markings on his smooth white big, stuffed plush egg he was given at Easter.