The Weekly Dump 1.20.17

We’ve Officially Jumped the Shark!

Today is the day it becomes official. I could never in my lifetime seriously fathom that Donald Trump would ever become President of the United States. I still can’t. I’m still in denial. Even right up until November 7th of last year, I wrote him off as a narcissistic punch line with a bad combover. And here he is, today the most powerful leader of the free world. If it wasn’t so scary, I’d be laughing about it. I know a lot has been written and discussed about why we’re in this situation now.  He resonated with the “reality TV” generation. And what I call the “reality TV” generation isn’t defined by age, sex, region, or wealth (just like the people that voted for him). It’s defined by viewing habits (partisan “news” media ruled the TV during the election cycle), and where people get their information from (mostly from the internet), and how they communicate with each other about it (on social media). CNN was wall to wall nothing but Trump for 6 months. Every time he said something stupid it was wall to wall coverage. Fox was the same. It was as if there was no other news and nothing else to talk about but what dumb thing did Trump say today. But he framed it all in such a way that as people attacked him, they were defending the status quo. They were attacking the guy who wanted to break the status quo. It worked. A huge chunk of the Democratic base (the poor working class the party was built from) felt alienated and left out by “elitist Democrats” like Hillary Clinton. That should have been obvious given the success of Bernie Sanders’ populist campaign (to the extent the DNC felt the need to undermine it in order to preserve the status quo candidate, who coincidentally and theoretically could raise the most money). Could Sanders have beaten Trump? We’ll never know but I think he could have. The polls said he could. He better represented the true base of the party that felt left out (and abandoned Clinton, costing her the election). These folks wanted Mr. Smith to go to Washington, not the rich and ethically challenged Clinton. She wrote them off long ago, and ultimately, they wrote her off in November of last year. The paradigm shifted. Nobody predicted this. I don’t think Trump thought he could win. But he proved us all wrong. 

Woody Guthrie wrote this song about The Donald’s slumlord father. It’s the legacy (and fortune) he inherited. 

Old Man Trump – Ryan Harvey, featuring Ani DiFranco and Tom Morello

Old Man Trump
Words by Woody Guthrie, Music by Ryan Harvey
I suppose that Old Man Trump knows just how much racial hate
He stirred up in that bloodpot of human hearts
When he drawed that color line
Here at his Beach Haven family project

Beach Haven ain’t my home!
No, I just can’t pay this rent!
My money’s down the drain,
And my soul is badly bent!
Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower
Where no black folks come to roam,
No, no, Old Man Trump!
Old Beach Haven ain’t my home!

I’m calling out my welcome to you and your man both
Welcoming you here to Beach Haven
To love in any way you please and to have some kind of a decent place
To have your kids raised up in.

Beach Haven ain’t my home!
No, I just can’t pay this rent!
My money’s down the drain,
And my soul is badly bent!
Beach Haven is Trump’s Tower
Where no black folks come to roam,
No, no, Old Man Trump!
Old Beach Haven ain’t my home!

Women’s March on Washington Goes Local Tomorrow

The Women’s March Santa Cruz County will coincide with tomorrow’s Women’s March on Washington, DC. The plan is for people to hopefully gather at City Hall at 1:30PM with a send off from local taiko drummers and other speakers and musicians. The plan is to march down Pacific Avenue to Louden Nelson Center where there will be more speakers and musicians. So if you’re interested in marching, meet at City Hall tomorrow at 1:30PM. And it’s not just for women, it’s open to everyone. Normally, another march on Santa Cruz might get an eye roll from me if they’re lucky, but this seems like a pretty good reason to walk downtown and try to find comfort for the times ahead. Misery loves company. While the nation takes a giant step backwards, Santa Cruz will keep marching forward. We might live in a bubble here, but we love our bubble and fight hard to protect it. I hope they have a nice turnout here. I’ll probably even join the march myself. 

What Happens When Your Morning Lap Dance Goes Horribly Wrong

We’re just a sleepy little beach town in the winter right? WRONG. Monday morning around 7:30AM, people were out getting breakfast and exercise, walking their dogs, and trying to avoid the huge law enforcement presence around the Surf City Motel on Riverside. It’s one of those local dumps that are basically an SRO (Single Residence Occupancy) that either houses hard to place people or is used by groups of homeless to squat in short term rentals. And lets just say some of the neighbors have been telling me all about this place, and the blight it causes on the neighborhood. So SCPD was all over this place like stink on mierda on Monday morning, using some kind of drone or robot to gain entry to some of the rooms. SCSO was there. UCSC police was there. Fire and rescue were nearby. It was apparently a big deal. They responded to a report of an armed robbery at a motel in the 600 block of Riverside Ave. Two males, possibly from Corralitos, responded to a craigslist advertisement advertising an “exotic dance” from a professional dancer. The male victims arrived at the motel room and gave money to the woman who they assumed was the dancer. The woman stated she was “going to get the rest of her friends” who were also “going to dance for them”. After she walked out, three black male suspects entered the room. The male victims quickly realized these 3 guys weren’t gonna give them a lap dance. When the men asked for their money back, one of the suspects pointed a handgun at them. The suspects told the victims they were keeping their money. Both victims left the room fearing for their lives. SCPD quickly set up a perimeter around the area and searched the motel rooms. The perimeter search took about two hours to cover the whole area. Ultimately, SCPD located two of the male suspects on the property and the female suspect inside a room. One male suspect and the gun are apparently still outstanding. SCPD Officers also recovered an unoccupied stolen car in the motel parking lot that had been carjacked out of Sacramento. SCPD Officers were able to tie one of the the suspects to the stolen car since he was in possession of the stolen car keys when he was arrested.

SCPD Storms Another Fleabag Motel in Beach Flats on Monday Night

Monday night around 9PM, SCPD sent multiple units to the Ocean Gate Inn at 111 Ocean street. All I know is it involved 4 males and something about a room being broken into. I heard at one point, officers had guns drawn on a suspect who refused to take his hands out of his pockets. There was an ensuing physical confrontation with PD as well. This is another local version of what I call an “SRO Motel”, something that isn’t really used as a traditional motel anymore, but a property that’s been converted and used as single resident occupancy low income housing. Sometimes, they call them “Efficiencies” (I guess it’s efficient use of the space by the landlord to cram as many units in as they can). But the people that usually live in them are low income, and that usually results in the typical problems that manifest in low income housing (drugs, gangs, crime). I know the city is slowly gentrifying the beach flats of these small, fleabag, slumlord run motels. It’s a long, slow process here, since any change like this would be deemed “uncompassionate”. Just look at the number of service calls. That’s always a good indicator. 

Serial Recidivist Breaks Woman’s Jaw in Front of Downtown Library

Tuesday afternoon around 1PM, a report came in that a couple of transients parked at the library (a male and a female) were physically fighting in front of the entrance. The male reportedly beat her up pretty good and threw the woman to the pavement, as it was reported by a nearby First Alarm guard. AMR was sent to the scene because the woman was complaining about jaw pain from being punched in the face. They had to transport her to Dominican for her broken jaw. Did they arrest the dingleberry that hit her? (NO. They cited and released him. For the 23rd time!). He’s only been arrested 22 TIMES since 2013, most recently in December of 2016. RECIDIVIST. Can we just tattoo that on their foreheads after they get to 20? He’s got a frequent flyer card for the “County Shuffle”. And if they did arrest him, he’ll be back downtown loitering across the street from city hall tomorrow. It’s not like the city can’t see it. It’s in the city manager’s front yard every day. The city chooses to ignore it. What a frightening thing for local children to witness as they try to use the local library. Does anyone actually take their children to the downtown library anymore? I thought it was mostly being used as the place where local bums sleep off their hangovers (or just go to pass out for awhile). And isn’t Cynthia Mathews on the library board, or very involved with the local libraries? I scratch and shake my head how she’s willing to tolerate this here. This city is COMPLETELY CLUELESS on how to keep residents safe from dangerous, serial recidivist criminals that beat up women in front of the public library (and aren’t even taken to jail for it). 

Man Breaks Into Neighbor’s Apartment and Chokes Her 

Thursday night around 9:30PM, a report came in that a male had crawled through a window and broken into a neighbor’s apartment on the corner of Broadway and Cayuga and was choking a woman. Apparently the woman was able to escape from the man and lock him out of the apartment. SCPD responded and was able to arrest the man. He was a neighbor. 

Shooting Up With a Million Dollar View 

Thursday morning around 10AM, a report comes in about a man either passed or dead in his car parked next to St. Joseph’s church on West Cliff. I know one thing’s for sure. He was shooting either heroin or meth into his arm, since the report was the needle was still sticking out of his arm. Our local junkies love to shoot up on West Cliff, or in Lighthouse Field, or in the surrounding neighborhoods (in their cars and barely drivable RVs).  I hear so many reports like this I usually don’t even bother to report them anymore. It’s a daily thing. It seems like it’s an hourly thing. It’s just become part of the “status quo” of Santa Cruz. And does anyone really think THIS “brand new” city council is going to do anything about this? Not a chance. They might grandstand and pander about it. They’ll definitely ignore it some more. And blame someone else (state parks, the coastal commission, anyone but the city).

Man Punched in the Face at Goodwill Bargain Outlet

Around 11AM on Thursday morning, a man punched another man in the face at the Goodwill store at 292 Pioneer street in the Harvey West park area. Apparently there was an auction and one guy outbid another guy for a book, and the loser punched the winner in the face. Well that’s not showing good will! SCPD responded but why bother. We know how this story turns out. The “County Shuffle”! What makes matters worse here is nobody wanted to press charges, and Goodwill didn’t want to file a no trespass letter with SCPD, despite the suspect being well known to EVERYONE involved as a serial recidivist. GEE I WONDER WHY? If local businesses want to masochistically tolerate this kind of behavior (and do NOTHING to discourage it), why should we try to help them? Why should we patronize businesses like this? Local businesses that refuse to prosecute property crimes should be boycotted as far as I’m concerned. Maybe I should start a list here. 

Gives New Meaning to Grey Goose

A drunk woman was drinking a bottle of vodka on Ocean street at about 2:30PM on Sunday afternoon when she apparently fell and hit her head. About 60, female, transient, and almost surely well known to the PD. It likely didn’t hurt her too badly as she was then described as yelling at people passing by trying to help her and throwing papers around. This is right next to the Walking Dead McDonalds on Ocean. I’m sure she’s a frequent flyer on the “County Shuffle”.

Storms Cause Excessive Damage to Santa Cruz Harbor

The recent storms, which also produced a low King tide in addition to higher than usual tides and storm surges, did some serious damage to the harbor. The storms deposited almost 2 feet of sediment into the harbor, which will need to be dredged again. Damage was estimated at 12 million dollars. The county has declared a state of emergency, and will soon ask the state to help pay for it. Until then, the harbor staff will do what they can, and dredge with in-house staff and equipment. I feel for all the boat owners down there. They’ve had a tough time the past few years. The tsunami damage from a few years back, the lost crab fishing season last year, and now this. I’m curious what effect these recent storms have had on the very limited crab fishing season this year. 

The Ugly Side of Fairy Tale Farm

I made a New Years resolution to not mention a certain former city council member’s name this year and I’m trying really hard not to break it. But this guy just can’t seem to wash the skidmarks out of his underwear. Every week I get a different story, usually from a different neighbor, that makes me shake my head here. Lots of interesting information and back story here. Now I know why he doesn’t work. But if he inherited a large sum of money from his mother, how is it that his father lives part time in a trailer park reserved for “low income” residents (while living the rest of his time in his casa in Mexico). I encourage anyone interested in the real backstory here to go read it. Of course this guy who I won’t name is fine with taking a figurative dump on Fairy Tale Farm. When he was a slumlord, he forced his bathroom-less tenants to “fertilize the farm” all the time. 

Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors Selects Leopold For Chair

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has unanimously elected Supervisor John Leopold as their new chair. It’s Leopold’s second time leading the Board. He replaces Supervisor Bruce McPherson, who served as chair during 2016. For the less informed, he’s also the guy who’s responsible for all those free needles. He started the program a long time ago. When the original program got de-funded by the federal government years ago, he had the county pick up the program and fund it under county health services. Nobody locally loves to give out free needles, without accountability or transparency, more than John Leopold does. Good luck getting ANY kind of reform while this oblivious apologist is the chair. He’ll trot out the same excuses and old, non local, “research studies” to make his case. I have a simple question. There are 482 cities in California. There are 29 cities in the state with a needle exchange program. Does that mean the other 453 cities without a needle exchange are overrun by HIV and Hep C epidemics? (their favorite argument in favor of a needle program). I’m sure they aren’t overrun by junkies looking for free needles. We actually increase the demand for heroin and meth locally by facilitating it’s easy, optimal delivery and our irrational, over tolerance for those that use use it. As long as they keep buying the ammo, we’ll give them free guns to kill themselves. We don’t treat them in clinics. We treat them to free needles, city and county tolerance for shooting up in public, and a never ending ride on the “County Shuffle”. 

Santa Cruz Neighbors Hosts Indoor Picnic

Santa Cruz Neighbors is hosting an Indoor Picnic on January 28th from noon to 2:30 at 155 Center St, in the Community Meeting Room. This gathering is particularly for Nextdoor leads, neighborhood leaders and those neighbors interested in being more involved with their own neighborhoods. They can connect you to the right person or city staff to help you with neighborhood issues. There will also be a display of the 1955 Flood, and talk about how neighbors came together then. RSVP a must to Robert at orrizzi@cruzio.com. So DON’T JUST SHOW UP BUT RSVP ROBERT IF YOU WANT TO GO. Santa Cruz Neighbors is a good group. They do lots of positive stuff for the community. And they’re one of the few local community groups with a focus on public safety. I give them 2 thumbs up. 

Guerreros
by Ernie Douglas

Golden State Warriors: 
The Warriors took on Cleveland in Oakland on Monday night. It was a major beatdown by the Warriors on Lebron and the Cavaliers. The Warriors never trailed and pushed the lead to over 30 at times before garbage time took over in the 4th quarter. Klay led the Dubs with 26, KD had 21, and Curry had 20. And Draymond had a triple double with 5 blocks. When those 4 guys have that kind of night, you don’t beat these guys very often. Then they took on Russell Westbrook and his OKC Thunder at Oracle on Wednesday night. It seems like games between these 2 teams has taken on a whole new dynamic since Westbrook and KD are now rivals (with obvious chips on their shoulders now). And the game was “chippy”. Zaza set a hard screen on Westbrook, then stood over him as he flopped on the floor trying to sell the call. He got his triple double (he’s surrounded by stiffs, who else is gonna contribute) and KD had a season high 40 as the Warriors pulled away in the 3rd quarter and beat the Thunder badly. That’s twice now in 2 games the Dubs have clowned Westbrook and OKC. Next week they embark on an extended 4 game road trip, but after solid, blow out wins against Cleveland and OKC this week, they’re “flying high again” (to quote Ozzy). And to make Westbrook’s week even worse, Curry was just selected as the All Star Game starter (with Harden) over Westbrook. The players and media had Westbrook over Curry but the fan vote pushed Curry over Westbrook in the final vote. I see one of 2 things coming out of this. Westbrook “pulls a hammy” days before and skips the game out of spite, or he goes and absolutely destroys anyone who tries to guard him coming off the bench. He might score a hundred points if he plays. He’ll try. And he won’t be passing KD (or Curry) the ball. My predictions. 

Upcoming games this week:  1/20 at Houston, 1/22 at Orlando, 1/23 at Miami, 1/25 at Charlotte

Santa Cruz Warriors:
The Santa Cruz Warriors took on Salt Lake City on Friday night at Kaiser, where they won 113-104. The GS Warriors sent a couple of their young rotation players down to Santa Cruz for this game. Both Pat McCaw and Kevon Looney played and contributed, along with Damian Jones (their 1st round draft pick last year). McCaw played 32 minutes and had 10 points, Looney had 18 points and 20 rebounds! Phil Pressey added 20 points and James Southerland had a game high 29 points off the bench for the home team. Lucky attendees were treated to having 2 of the GS Warriors regular rotation players starting and playing big minutes for the home team tonight. You never know what (or who) you might see here! The Warriors lost to the Stars 102-94 on Saturday night in front of a 19th straight sellout at Kaiser, splitting the back-to-back series 1-1. They were led by Dennis Clifford, who led all scorers with 26 points and eight rebounds. Phil Pressey added 24 points and five assists, while Damian Jones, on assignment from the Golden State Warriors, added 12 points and four rebounds. Thursday night they travelled to Canada for the D-League showcase. 

Upcoming games this week:  1/19 vs. Oklahoma City, 1/21 vs. Texas (both games at the D-League showcase in Canada)

Weekly Shoutouts

Weekly shoutout to my friends and fans on Nextdoor. I appreciate you standing up to the bullies and haters of reality. Shoutout to BP for sending me the info and photo on the Surf City motel story. Gracias! Shoutouts to everyone that applied for a local commission appointment from the city council. These are volunteers who often give their time thanklessly to improve the community. I know for some of them it’s the just the equivalent of a political chip, but for others it’s a pretty important way to serve their community. Nothing but respect for those that step up here, even if I don’t agree with them. 

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