07/25/2025
Just to clarify:
The Forest Life mural was painted in July 2020 (a month before the CZU fire) by Watsonville native Erika Rosendale - using your tax dollars that Redwood Pizza was given by the Federal Government to compensate the business for the financial impact of the long & painful Covid restrictions. I didn’t fully realize (at the time) that the garage wall Erika painted was a foot off of our shared property line with the neighbors.
3 years later, in the summer of 2023, the absentee owners of the building next door (that rents to the wonderful & kind local owners of Felton Feed) came to town & got upset that we painted “their wall” without their permission. So I apologized. Several times. In writing. Last year they had their whole building painted but the painter (who really likes our pizza haha) refused to paint over the mural due to conflicts of his personal ethics. Props to him. ✊🏼
This year, their property manager (Russell Gross) was again asked by the absentee building owners to find someone to paint over the mural & he complied. So yesterday a very nice local couple (up in their years) showed up with a paint roller & 5 gallons of white paint.
After they turned down my offer to buy the paint for $208 & walk away, I chose to just shake their hands, tell them there were no hard feelings, and offer them a cold beverage when they finished. Because hate begets hate, and an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. And I’m def not gonna let those slum lord, out of town a-holes ruin my day off. 🖕🏼
What’s done is now done. If you want to help in any way, please consider contacting Erika Rosendale if you have a mural project. She’s the 💣. Just make sure the mural is on your own property haha
