SERIES:

MONTEREY WORKSHOP 

ADDRESSES AFFORDABLE 

HOUSING SOLUTIONS

Wanda (in red) and engineer and playwright Harold E. Grice (left)
enjoy 4th of July festivities in 2021. Photo by Jeanne Marie Olin.
Column 99 - Part 1 - WELCOME TO THE NOUVEAU POOR  (9/2/2016)
BROWSING through the Cedar Street Times last month was a shocker. If I hadn’t already known housing prices are out of sight, I might have fainted dead away when the first home I ever owned winked sassily at me from an attractive Sotheby’s International ad. As the only New Monterey listing, the asking price was $875,000 among mostly seven-figure properties. “Only $875,000?” I gasped, wishing I could buy it back.   (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 100 - Part 2 - PLAYING THE BALL WHERE THE MONKEY DROPPED IT  (9/9/2016)
Housing? Which Housing Issue? IF YOU’D ATTENDED the jam-packed Affordable Housing Workshop hosted by the City of Monterey Planning Dept. on Wed., Aug. 31 at the Youth Center in Monterey, you’ll understand the question. If you weren’t there, here’s my take as I’d have covered it as a young associate editor of the society page of a major metropolitan daily in Los Angeles. Biggest End-Of-Summer-Season Non-Social Social Event Today such sections are called Lifestyle. In the 1970s they were the Social Scene, and even earlier, Rotogravure (with scads of photos of chic people milling about). In other words, I didn’t know what to expect.  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 101 - Part 3 - TROLLING WITH STICKERS, FISHING WITH BAIT  (9/16/2016)
USING colored stickers is like luring fish with bright objects, as fishers who troll for their living know. If trolling succeeds, baited hooks and nets can complete the catch. Since Monterey’s fame and fortune began when its sardine fishery employed up to 8,000 people in two dozen smelly canneries, credit goes to author John Steinbeck for his novel “Cannery Row” which immortalized the peninsula.  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 102 - Part 4 - BOONDOGGLERS AND BELLYACHERS VS. LOCAL MOUNTAIN MOVERS  (9/23/2016)
BOONDOGGLING and protocol-honoring seem indistinguishable to a homeless person like CeliaSue Hecht, 66, who spends cold nights in a car because she can’t find an affordable room. Boondogglers are those who could get things done to solve the problem but use stall and delay tactics to prolong a situation until it fades out, is forgotten, goes bust or dies. Homeowners with empty rooms to rent fall often into that category. City halls are especially notorious for boondoggling, but Boondogglers can be any and all procrastinators.  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 103 - Part 5 - ASK YOURSELF: NOW WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?   (9/30/2016)
REDUCING a speech, lecture, or event into a one-line summary isn’t easy, but you’ll be surprised what you discover by condensing a major phenomenon into ten words or less. If interested, try this: Focus on one specific event, such as the first Presidential Debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump last Monday.   (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)
Column 104 - Part 6 - THE EMERGENCY SHELTER RACE TO BEAT OLD MAN WINTER  (10/7/2016)
“ROUNDING the clubhouse turn” is how my racing-fan mother might summarize the quest for an emergency warming shelter in Monterey before winter returns. If you recall, last December two homeless men froze to death in an empty lot in downtown Monterey. Rumors claim they refused help offered by the police to get...  (CLICK TO CONTINUE READING...)

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