Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs elects Patrick Crooks as new board president
CARPINTERIA, Calif. – Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs announced it has elected Patrick Crooks as its new board president.
Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs issued the following press release:
Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs Elects Patrick Crooks President
New Officers of Grassroots Nonprofit Reinforce 26-year Mission to Preserve the Carpinteria Bluffs
Carpinteria, Calif. — Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs recently elected Patrick Crooks as its board president for a term of two years. Crooks has pledged to lead the 26-year-old nonprofit in its work to preserve two parcels west and adjacent to the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve totalling 27.5 acres, where a developer has proposed constructing a large-scale resort and apartment complex. Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs was formed in 1996 in order to raise funds toward the successful public acquisition and conservation of the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve & Viola Fields.
“Realizing places like Carpinteria don’t happen by accident, that it takes people getting involved, has inspired me to join groups like Citizens for the Carpinteira Bluffs,” said Crooks, who works as a Project Scientist at Langan Engineering & Environmental Services. Crooks and his wife have two young children in Carpinteria, where he has also volunteered on the City of Carpinteria’s Open Space Management and Tree advisory boards.
Crooks is joined by fellow board officers: Susan Allen, Vice President; Whitney Abbott, Secretary, and John Tilton, Treasurer.
Many founding board members of the Citizens for the Bluffs have remained active since its inception. Members like Ted Rhodes and Arturo Tello spearheaded the successful 1990s effort to block development and raise $4 million for public acquisition of the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve.
Sortis Holdings has proposed constructing a large resort, events center and apartment housing for the undeveloped property where Tee Time Driving Range currently operates adjacent to the nature preserve. The resort would include a restaurant, spa, events center and nearly 300 parking spaces on the property, which spans the bluffs from Carpinteria Avenue to the Carpinteria harbor seal rookery overlook — totaling nearly 125,000 square feet of new buildings.
“With saving and protecting for future generation the entire Carpinteria Bluffs as open space including the Tee Time property remaining our mission ever since our inception in 1996, Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs is excited to have these new, younger Bluffs activists joining our board with Patrick Crooks taking over the helm for me as President,” said Ted Rhodes, Past President, Citizens for the Bluffs.
The Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs Board also includes members Christie Boyd, Bunni Lesh, Julia Mayer, Jessica Mayer, Gary Campopiano, Marty Selfridge, Mauricio Gomez, Kristen Van Der Kar andAndrea Adams Morden.
ABOUT CITIZENS FOR THE CARPINTERIA BLUFFS
Citizens for the Carpinteria Bluffs was founded in 1996 as a nonprofit grassroots community organization to preserve forever the Carpinteria Bluffs as open space. The organization uses educational and promotional activities to raise public knowledge and appreciation of the Bluffs and its natural features. Its aim is to ensure that the Bluffs remain an area for active and passive recreation. The group was integral to preserving the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve and Viola Fields in 1998 and the Rincon Bluffs Preserve in 2018.
