Pieces from The Santa Barbara Independent

Included here are a collection of pieces written for print and online content during my time as an editorial intern at The Santa Barbara Independent. I transcribed and assisted with photo shoots, but mostly I spent my four months pursuing stories, researching, interviewing, and composing pieces on pretty much anything. Below is the story of two women on a 1200 mile coastal trek, published in the lifestyle section of the July 2016 issue; an in-depth look at the link between Santa Barbara's homelessness and crime rates; and a city council bid that evoked hope for residents worried about increasing development and drought conditions. 

Morgan Visalli and Jocelyn Enevoldsen arrived at Arroyo Burro Beach early Friday afternoon in high spirits, excited, like the dozens of other beachgoers sprawled in the midday sun, that the morning marine layer had finally burned off.

With their bathing suits and picnic lunches in tow, the self-named duo “MoJo” was prepared to enjoy what they’ve triumphantly marked on their calendars as their 76th beach day in a row.

With the help of a $50,000 grant from the California Coastal Conservancy, Mo and Jo, both graduates of UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, are now on the tail end of a 1,200-mile walk down the California Coastal Trail. On their backs, they’ve carried their gear — clothes, GPS trackers, cameras, and an arsenal of batteries — for more than 875 miles.

Mo and Jo’s three-month adventure began May 1 at Pelican State Beach, just below the Oregon border. Dutifully shared on Facebook, Instagram, and their MoJo Coastwalk blog, the trip is one of approximately 40 projects behind the development of the California Coastal Conservancy’s soon-to-be Explore the Coast smartphone app.

The app will provide users with a detailed, up-to-date guide of cultural, biological, and historical points of interest along the trail.

“Today we stopped at the Goleta Slough for awhile because there were some really nice birds out there,” said Jocelyn, when asked about the content collecting process. “We usually try to do one important point for the app per day, so we’ll usually stop and shoot for awhile.”

The app is the newest part of a California Coastal Conservancy plan that began 28 years ago, according to the California Coastal Trail Association website, with the help of longtime activists Bill and Lucy Kortum, who walked with Mo and Jo as they passed through Bodega Bay.

“We really hope that this app will continue to encourage public demand for the trail’s completion,” said Jo, anticipating that the 1,200 miles of rugged terrain, bike paths, and walking trails will one day be fully connected. The Coastwalk now is only halfway complete.

On a strict schedule of 12 miles a day and a speed of approximately 2 miles an hour, Mo and Jo have been planning their Coastwalk, with the help of pro tips from retired Coastwalk Executive Director Richard Nicholas, since early 2016, when the duo presented their plans to the Coastal Conservancy Board. The trip down the coast is made easier with the company of their two dogs, and traveling partner and van driver Alisan Amrhein, who takes care of logistics, additional equipment, and a much raved about pot of morning oatmeal. The two tent camp in California state parks each night.

“We are more plugged in than we ever have been in our lives,” said Jocelyn, as she discussed the irony of a backpacking trip so reliant on technology. “Most of the time people go into nature to unplug, but we are geared out.”

On rest days, Mo and Jo are busy updating social media, creating written content for the app, and meeting with local conservationists and political leaders. They also invite others to walk with them to further promote their cause.

Last Friday afternoon, Mo and Jo, set to end their day at East Beach, were both excited and sad to admit that they only had 20 days left of the trip. The final stop at Mexico’s border on August 4 will include a bittersweet celebration with friends, coworkers, and family members.

“We’ve seen whales breaching in the sunset, and just to see something that big in its natural environment really strikes a chord,” said Mo. “We’re able to see things that not everyone in the world gets to see. It’s such a special experience.”

The Santa Barbara Police Department is witnessing a new trend among one revolving but familiar demographic. According to a quarterly report, monthly statistics collected by SBPD show an increase in transient-related crimes between January and May 2016. At its peak in May, police reported 628 transient-related crimes, a number that exceeds the five-year monthly average of 348. This increase also follows a steady relative decline in the latter half of 2015, during which total transient-related crimes in December amounted to 366.

Though fluctuations like this have occurred in previous years, police spokesperson Sergeant Riley Harwood indicated the overall trend of transient-related crime in Santa Barbara, which can range from violent outbreaks to open-container citations, has remained relatively consistent and is not a point of concern. The cause of such fluctuations is, however, a little more difficult to pinpoint.

One reason, according to Harwood, lies in the tentative correlation between crime rates and homeless shelter policies. As shelters like PATH (previously known as Casa Esperanza) adopt policies that mandate sobriety in exchange for shelter and services, those unwilling to conform may opt to stay on the streets.

The rise may also be attributed to the increased number of units patrolling the downtown area to accommodate visitors of all economic backgrounds that flock in large numbers to Santa Barbara in the summertime. The higher crime rate may simply be the effect of more persistent policing.

Officer Keld Hove, whose eight years of service on the restorative policing team has helped some of Santa Barbara’s most chronically homeless, reminds residents that the increase in police activity is not for the benefit of tourist season. “We never go out to clean up the streets for tourists,” said Hove. “We, as police officers, are called to address crime of all kinds to make sure that people of all backgrounds subscribe to an acceptable standard.”

With 18 years of working with homeless in the downtown area, Hove points out that many crimes committed by transients are what he calls “lifestyle crimes,” or crimes result from private activity, like drinking or drug use, that for many homeless are, of necessity, carried out in the public sphere.

Amy Cooper, a 20-year Santa Barbara resident, said the homeless demographic, seemed to be changing. As the six-year owner and founder of Plum Goods, Cooper has had several encounters with individuals who seem “younger, aggressive, and more involved in illegal activity” outside her store. She’s reported a street fight and made several calls to police and animal control.

Hove, who has heard similar sentiments from residents and business owners over the years, is hesitant to corroborate such claims. “For the past 18 years I’ve been hearing that same complaint,” Hove said. “It is possible that there are more homeless on State Street, but I don’t know if that’s true. People have always tended to say that things seem worse than yesterday.”

On the other side of the debate is Jason Prystowsky, Goleta Cottage Hospital emergency room doctor by day and Doctors Without Walls - SB Street Medicine Medical Director by night. Along with a band of volunteers, he run weekly pop-up medical clinics in Alameda and Pershing parks.

“We can’t comment on the increase in homeless-related crime,” said Prystowsky. “However, we can comment on the increased volume of patients and increased variety of illness we see among them that is very much in line with national statistics.”

While Officer Hove and the majority of law enforcement deal with the chronically homeless — those who are houseless, mentally ill, and often suffer from addiction — Dr. Prystowsky sought to remind the community that homelessness affects so many more.

“There is a huge invisible homeless community of working people with jobs who are living out of cars,” said Prystowsky, who asserts that the label of homelessness is far bigger than most recognize it to be. “They are contributing members of society who are a reminder that a lot of us are just one natural disaster away from homelessness.”

Kyle Richards, an Old Town Goleta resident for eight years and the Commissioner and Chair of Goleta Parks and Recreation for three, announced his candidacy for Goleta City Council on Monday. 

Richards’s announcement marked the first time since 2010 that a new candidate has run for a position on Goleta’s City Council.

With a crowd of more than 30 supporters behind him on the steps of the Goleta Valley Community Center, Richards stood next to Margaret Connell, Goleta’s first mayor, who kicked off the announcement ceremony with a personal endorsement.

Connell described Richards as “a strong new candidate” and an individual “who’s ready to stand up and respond to the concerns of city residents and prepared to change the direction of the city.”

Richards works as a policy analyst for UCSB, and worked previously as director of its Resource Center for Sexual & Gender Diversity. Richards also served as boardmember and co-chair of the Fund for Santa Barbara for six years. UCSB’s College of Creative Studies staff member Marianne Morris and local businessman and cosmetologist Robert Johns have known Richards for over a decade, and stood among the supporters, touting signs with slogans like “Defending What We Love About Goleta.”

Richards’s “new direction” centered on topics of overdevelopment, water scarcity, and traffic that many residents of Goleta have expressed increased concern about.

The new candidate asserted his belief in “access to a safe and dependable supply of drinking water, recreation, and roads that all Goletans have a right to expect,” to the applause of his supporters.

“I want someone who will uphold [Goleta’s] mission statement, which was to preserve the community and not let growth go unchecked,” said 20-year resident Jerry Sorich, who attended Monday’s announcement with his wife, Dee. The Soriches, who live in Goleta and own property in Isla Vista, pointed to the upcoming Rincon Palms Hotel, as well as the Village at Los Carneros, as the root of community conflict.

“The current city council is looking to have the growth so they can show more income, but we’re not benefiting as a community commensurate to the amount of development that’s going on now,” said Jerry Sorich.  

The concern about development, for both Richards and local residents, lies in the already limited water resources available to the Goleta area. Jim Wilcox remembered the crippling effects of Goleta’s last major drought in the 1990s. “We had a water crisis 20 years ago that dropped us to our knees, and we didn’t have nearly the population we do now,” said Wilcox. “We’ve done nothing locally in that time to increase our water supply. The way things are looking now, we’re headed right back to where we were.”

Barbara Gaughen-Muller, president of the United Nations Santa Barbara Tri-County Chapter, also expressed concerns about development, traffic, and water. But most important for Gaughen-Muller, who moved to Goleta in 1969 and has lived in her home across from Brandon School ever since, is the preservation of the little things that make the “Good Land” great.

“My husband is buried in Goleta,” said Gaughen-Muller, “and people ask me why is he buried here and not in New York? Because it’s peaceful. I don’t want to be in a fancy cemetery. I want to be in one where I can sit and look at the mountains.”