Stephen Homan came out of retirement as an environmental health specialist to help a Santa Cruz County neighbor struggling to rebuild from 2020’s CZU fire. He ended up helping 50 CZU fire survivors whose rebuilds were held up by poorly understood septic regulations and improperly applied environmental health ordinances. His efforts would ultimately help lead to a near sea change in the process, making it better for everyone. And he did it all for free. Daniel DeLong marvels at Homan’s humanity — and, nearly three years after the fires started, takes a few jabs at bureaucracy and incompetence.
More from Daniel DeLong
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The time machine works! We can now settle the Second Amendment question once and for all
In light of the latest unthinkable school shooting, in Nashville, Daniel DeLong tackles the thorny issue of the Second Amendment by bringing the framers of the Constitution forward in time, and asking them for clarity.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Only 24 of 911 lost CZU houses rebuilt. Can we please cut the red tape so my neighbors can come home?
Ben Lomond resident Daniel DeLong misses his neighbors. Many lost homes in the CZU fire in 2020 and have struggled with the bureaucracy of rebuilding. Too many, he writes, are giving up, worn out by paperwork and the demands of bureaucrats. For him, the numbers say it all: 911 homes lost, 24 rebuilds. “Look, I know these are just people doing their jobs,” he says of those in charge of approving rebuilds. “They’re checking the boxes that codes and regulations require. … But I also know that bureaucracies don’t always have to be as mindless, as dehumanizing, as soul-crushing.”
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
What NYT omitted about life in the Santa Cruz Mountains: Neighbors with chainsaws
Daniel DeLong lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where packing a chainsaw is often just part of mountain life. His young daughters are as familiar with the gear – ropes, helmets, wedges, mini sledgehammer – as they are with their own backpacks. Unfortunately, The New York Times reporter who interviewed him last week during the storms, was not. “That reporter omits the most important aspect of rural mountain living: preparation. And having neighbors who look out for each other,” he says.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
My wife decided to make a dahlia farm over the remains of the CZU fire — she’s crazy, but in a good way
Two years ago, Karla and Daniel DeLong and their two young daughters fled their Ben Lomond home during the CZU fire. Their house miraculously didn’t burn, but they lost hundreds of trees and were left with acres of scorched land. Aided by friends, the community and Karla’s “crazy-cool” vision, they have transformed their property into a dahlia farm “with the sole purpose of bringing color and joy back to our devastated community,” Daniel DeLong writes. It’s open this Saturday to the public.