HOLIDAY SEASON 2020

Usually this time a year, my greeting to friends and colleagues alike is traditionally one of holiday joy, Merry Christmas, Happy Passover and Happy New Year being my greetings of choice. However, with the re-escalation of Covid, possible court closures, and all the craziness surrounding the election, the best I can currently muster is urging one and all to be safe, to not take chances, and to contact us if we may be of assistance through these difficult times.

But there is good news on the horizon. A working vaccine, with a high success rate, is nearing completion and will soon be available. What better holiday gift could we, as a society, hope to receive?

In the meantime, the compromises that we currently are making must continue. For NOCBA this means that we must continue to operate in virtual space. Our Zoom Casts will continue for the foreseeable future. My thanks to one and all, members and non-members alike, for supporting them, and to our board members, specifically Lorrie Walton & Kim Wah for helping to produce them.

Also, none of this would have been possible without our guests: CeCe Moore, Meldie Moore, Chris Glew, Jess Rodriguez, Judge Erich Larsh, Darren Boyle and Jennifer Medina from the courts, and of course our DA, Todd Spitzer. Thank you for taking a chance on us and sharing your knowledge and expertise in this virtual world we find ourselves in.

I am also eternally grateful to the NOCBA Board, present and past members, and our Past President advisory panel, who have pooled their talents and expertise to keep us navigating through these by now too familiar waters. Specifically thank you to our current board, our Vice President, Fernando Valle, Treasurer, Lorrie Walton, Secretary, Kim Wah, and Board Members, Ray Dinari, Mike Easterson, Lloyd Freeberg, Olga Giller and Lisa Leversen and former Board Member, Rick Curran. A sincere thank you also goes to the men and women who led NOCBA before me. These include Hon. Jeff Ferguson, Bob Hickey, Lorrie Walton, Steve Bloom, and Jacquie Goodman.

But no list of acknowledgments would be complete without a shout out to our sponsors, without whom NOCBA would not be the force that it is. These include Sean Cook of Premiere Bail Bonds and DMS/Options along with Allen Martinez and Jason Guevara. Jarrett Mahoney, Kris Belieu and Trey Roberts of Breathe Easy, Dean Stepper and Suzzette Casillas of Most, Nancy Clark and Winter McDaniel of Nancy Clark and Associates, Mike Moore of Emanate Appearance Attorneys, Joseph Blunt of Bad Boys Bail Bonds, William Walker of True Recovery, Steve Goodman of Steve Goodman Attorney Services and Bail Bonds and Northbound Treatment Services, Jani Nelson and Lynsey Gasser of Hotel California By The Sea and Dr. Stephanie Herring of N’Sight Psychology and Addiction.

Disregarding what I said in the opening sentence, May the holiday season fill your home with joy, your heart with love, your life with laughter and your brain with no memories of 2020.

In the meantime, make peace with continued al fresco dining, and dress warmly when going to the gym or yoga class outdoors for a little while longer.

/Jeff Kent