The Weekly Dump 5.27.16

Memorial Day weekend is here so I guess summer has officially begun. Let’s get this party started!

Heavy Traffic Expected Through Santa Cruz for Memorial Day Weekend

Gridlock is expected pretty much everywhere. Roads to definitely avoid: Ocean, Mission, River, Front, Center, Pacific. These roads will lead you to nowhere and have you wishing you never left home. Thank goodness we have this local good samaritan out directing traffic on 17th Ave. and Portola. I’m sure he just felt like working on his tan.

Welcome to Santa Cruz folks!

Cowell’s Named Dirtiest Beach in California for 3rd Straight Year!

I know it’s a pretty dubious honor but we own it! For the 3rd straight year, Cowells Beach in Santa Cruz has been named the dirtiest beach in California. Read more about it here.

City Council Bends Over to the Coastal Commission Staff

The Santa Cruz city council recently tried to set new parking regulations to stem the onslaught of broken down RVs taking over West Cliff drive and many areas along the west side near Natural Bridges. The city council was obviously scared off by the response from the staff of the Coastal Commission (not the actual Coastal Commission but their staff). Given the typical lack of spine response from the city attorney, we don’t really expect anything to change any time soon. Expect to see a line of RVs parked along West Cliff all summer long, dumping their raw sewage into the gutter and right into the ocean.

Woman Overdoses in Bathroom at Bayview Elementary School Children’s Carnival

Why does this not surprise me in the least? I wish I could link to an actual media story or police report about this but unfortunately, none exist (publicly anyways). But there are numerous eyewitnesses and first hand accounts posted on social media. I’m sure it happened. Why the city and the media doesn’t want you to know it happened is also understandable. It’s how we roll in Santa Cruz.

Homeless Services Center Bails On Winter Shelter Program

The local non-profit Homeless Services Center, the same non-profit with that super sweetheart rent deal granted by the city of Santa Cruz, has decided it doesn’t want to help shelter the homeless next winter. “It’s a hard thing for us to say, but the right thing for us to do to sustain the organization,” Kramer said. “Running the winter shelter program relies on an infrastructure that doesn’t exist.” I’m curious how they have a good sized “campus” on city property, they have a sweetheart deal with the city to play almost nothing in rent each year, yet they have an “infrastructure that doesn’t exist”. If it didn’t exist, how have they managed to do it in previous years? Maybe we don’t need a winter shelter? Or maybe what’s going on here is this particular non-profit, problematic for the community for so many years, just doesn’t want to contribute their “fair share” here, and would rather re-allocate the money for administrative costs and staff salaries. If the Homeless Service Center doesn’t have the “infrastructure” to do it’s job, maybe we need to give them the boot and find an adequate replacement. Read more on this story.

Food Trucks are Rolling Into San Lorenzo Park

Mark your calendar for June 10th from 5-8PM. The First Food Truck Friday takes place at San Lorenzo Park. Beer & Wine Garden too! Benefits FOPAR (Friends of Parks and Rec), a great organization that helps disadvantaged youth attend summer camps in Santa Cruz.

Scheduled Food Vendors (More To Be Announced Soon!)
* Ate3One
* Aunt LaLi’s
* Conscious Creations
* India Gourmet
* Tacos Las Varas Nayarit
* Zocalo Tamales

City Council Election Watch

4 of the 7 seats on the Santa Cruz city council will be up for re-election this fall. 4 is also the magic number for a “majority” so theoretically, a new “majority” could actually be voted into office and make sweeping changes. The likelihood of that happening is about zero though. There just aren’t 4 like minded candidates running with enough clout to pull this off. Very few candidates have actually declared so far, and a number of others have been “rumored” to be considering a run.

Declared Candidates:

• J.M. Brown
• Steve Pleich
• Nate Kennedy
• Dru Glover

Rumored Candidates:

• Cynthia Mathews
• Micah Posner
• Sandy Brown
• Martine Watkins
• Mark Primack
• Laura Boyd

Got News? Let us know!