Santa Cruz Armory to Open as Winter Homeless Shelter
All it took was Donald Trump threatening to meddle in his business to light a fire under Governor Gavin Newsom’s ass and get the state involved in more homeless shelter options. Or at least it got the state offering up more empty property and empty promises, with no real solution in sight.
In a recent email he blasted out to nobody in particular, Santa Cruz city manager Martin Bernal announced the opening of the Armory in the coming weeks.
He also talked about overnight parking options at SCPD, how they are still looking to pay a new “homeless czar” at least $150k per year of our tax money, the new homeless shuttle pickup site near the jail (an obviously apt place for it given the turnstiles are always open), and the possibility of a new RV sewage dumping site. Can’t get out of our own way we can’t! (in my bad Yoda voice)
Naked Man Running in Traffic Hit by Vehicle on Empire Grade
There’s a dashcam video floating around on social media that shows a naked man running around in busy traffic on Empire Grade before a vehicle actually hits him and knocks him into the middle of the roadway. It’s pretty disturbing video but what’s really disturbing is we have naked men running around in traffic here. I’d call that a public safety hazard. Whether he’s mentally ill or high on drugs, we see this happening far too often and the county’s response is basically a collective shrug. I spoke to someone with some insight into what happened and they told me the victim was taken to Valley Medical Center in San Jose for his injuries, but he was alive when he was dropped off there.
Dirty Laundry
Tuesday morning around 10AM, SCPD arrested a 30 year old transient male and charged him with a laundry list of stuff, including being drunk in public, drug possession, theft, possession of stolen property, burglary, loitering, vandalism, and resisting arrest. What, no probation violations? He’s only been arrested locally 15 times since 2016.
Thieves Steal ATM From Roller Rink
Last Friday, thieves broke into the Santa Cruz Roller Palladium on the 1600 block of Seabright Avenue overnight and stole an ATM and a cash register. And I think they stole a bunch of candy too. I don’t think anyone was arrested, but the front door was broken and damaged. Go show them some love! And if you’re not into roller skating, Santa Cruz Jazzercise does daily classes there too. Take a dance class!
Erin Brockovich is Disgusted With California Leaders
“the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 26 alleging that the state’s lack of urgency on homelessness threatens public health by polluting nearby water with untreated human waste”. More here.
Turnstiler of the Week
Monday night around 6PM, SCPD responded to the 100 block of Coral Street (otherwise known as “Skid Row”) for a report of someone drunk who was brandishing a weapon in the street. They arrested a guy. He’s been arrested 14 times locally since 2014. His treatment program from the county is basically getting arrested over and over and hope he either drops dead or leaves town. Neither has happened but he keeps getting arrested.
A Greater Purpose Than Being a Failed Beer Garden
I’ve been laughing at this dumbass idea since I first heard it (see July 2018 Weekly Dump under “Praying at the Porcelain Altar“). Preacher (or Pastor or Grifter or whatever he is) Chris Who Changes His Name announced last year that he was moving his flock to downtown, to the vacant old Logos building where they would open some kind of brew pub. Praying to the porcelain alter here! For the past 12 months, signs have plastered the front of Logos announcing “Coming in 2019!” and 2019 has obviously come and gone and Logos is still vacant. Now Good Times is talking to the visionary brain trust behind this failed idea. And don’t get me started on the historical aesthetic significance of that ugly assed Circle Church.
Going to the Candidates Debate
Laugh about it, shout about it when you’ve got to choose! This Saturday at 10AM, the local Democratic Women’s Club will be holding a “candidates forum” at the community room of the Santa Cruz Police Station. I know Don Lane is going but I’m not sure who else will be there. I’m guessing Renee Golder will also be there. So here’s your chance to meet and greet with the people who will be replacing Chris Krohn and Drew Glover a few months from now. Don should be pretty familiar to anyone who’s followed Santa Cruz politics for the past 20 years or so. He’s been a fixture on the city council, for better or worse, and now we need him to be the better choice over Chris Krohn. At least for the balance of the year. Renee Golder is the far more important candidate to get to know. She’s the magic pill we need right now to get our city back on track at city hall. So if you can get down there, it’s free and likely to be entertaining. At least for people watching.
Stop the Needle Madness in Santa Cruz!
If you haven’t done so yet, please sign and share this! If you signed the previous petition for this, please sign again as this involves a new application. Thanks!
Support the Recall Effort!
The recall effort was successful at getting to the ballot but the real work has begun to see this effort to the finish line. Please consider a donation to Santa Cruz United, the group that worked to organize the recall effort. I support their efforts as a group, and I pledge to provide my services pro bono to the recall effort. If we all step up, we will finish this effort successfully and bring function back to a completely dysfunctional city hall. Thanks!
The Santa Mierda Podcast Network
Be sure to check out the Santa Mierda Podcast Network! You can find the Santa Mierda Podcast Network on SoundCloud. And Apple Music. And Spotify. It’s free so check it out and give it a listen!
Check Out Our Twitter Feed for More Mierda!
Be sure to check out and follow our Twitter feed for even more mierda! Even though the Dump only comes your way once a week, I try to post breaking news and updates on other days as well. So check us out and follow us on Twitter for even more updates about real time news in Santa Cruz you might not otherwise hear about.
Get The Dump Delivered Each Week!
Don’t forget you can sign up and have the Weekly Dump automatically delivered to your email each week! Just click that little box in the bottom right corner of any page that says “Follow the Weekly Dump!” and sign up! All we need is an email.
Discover more from Santa Mierda!
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
25 Responses
The naked guy broke a truck window parked along the road and punched a mountain biker before getting hit by the car.
Yikes! Thanks for the info. Sounds like he was having a bad day.
Not only having a bad day but inflicting a bad day on others.
I love your emphasis on “turnstyler of the week” Ben. I have a suggestion that you expand this weekly highlight, to the “turnstyler judge of the week” and “turnstyler probation officer of week” and the “turnstyler DA of the week” by naming the actual NAME of the judge, probation officer and district attorney who were responsible for the “yurnstyler of the week’s” release. All these peoples’ acrual names are in the criminal file which is accessible on the first floor of 702 Ocean. The turnstyler judge of the week would be the judge that looked at the previous 13 arrests and released the “turnstyler of the week” into the community. The problem is these people need to stay in the slammer for mando treatment of their addictions and then strict drug testing by probation officer – none of which is appears to be happening. Perhaps by embarrassing the people responsible for the turnstyler problem, the judges, DA’s and probation officers will sooner or later realize that they need to do to correct the error of their ways and we can start to take the problems off the street and get them the help they need.
i agree. i think this idea is better than doing a 5150 on anyone who is shooting up on the street. for the extreme deadly drugs, if the cops have someone so addicted they are transient etc… then just make the punishment for that illegal drug use sobriety in jail.
these guys are able bodied enough to survive these drugs and street life for so long. forget about the expense of massively expanding healthcare to tackle this. if the guys are doing meth in particular and deciding to be transient… and then partake in all the violent behavior that drug inspires…
if they get arrested just force a detox in jail where there are officers strong enough to keep these guys from shooting up and attacking the community. maybe after some mandatory sobriety they would realize what they are missing.
its honestly like you would have to send some of these guys to the military. just have them doing janitorial work in the military… i wouldnt give them any actual military training though, not unless they worked up to that after a few years of grunt work and sobriety.
these guys on the street are too strong and too violent. the average civilian who volunteers at a shelter isnt capable of dealing with the aggression or detox. revamping the whole mental healthcare system to deal with maximum security detox or career criminals etc.. just sounds way too expensive and not feasable.
severely mentally disabled people on the street definitely need the type of 5150 that is happening in san francisco… and that could be helped by expanding healthcare… but looking at the stats of who is shooting up and what demographic they belong to… the huge percentage of middle aged males… it would be a mistake to say that is all a mental disability as opposed to welfare fraud, illegal drug use and crime.
speaking of healthcare it is sad to see it unravelling in parts of the country where people are signing up for plans that hike premiums through the roof if someone actually gets sick or deny coverage to people with preexisting medical conditions. i am happy california has been making sure health insurance is available to the sick. that could really work out to help a lot of the mentally ill who are lost on the street.
ha, I don’t get paid enough to do all that work. Come to think of it, I don’t get paid at all for this. But if someone else wants to run with it, I like the idea.
Ben-
I tried that. I ran a weekly “Law & Order” column. It was a lot of work (6 hours-ish each week). Hardly anyone read it. Other than the knowledge I gained, it wasn’t worth the effort (I too don’t get paid for this).
Keep up the great work. You’re the constant beacon in a fog shrouded night.
Ben – I would need the NAMES of your turnstylers of the week in order to show up at 706 Ocean, stand in line and the report back on your blog (the next week) on the turnstyle judge, DA and probation officer.
If you can report actual names of your turnstyler of the week I can arrange a Bucket Brigade to come up with the rest of it on a one-week lag basis. I know this may have some risks in your mind but it would be a great step forward to solving this intractable problem Ben. What do you say?
Great idea, Gracchus!
Very good idea, Gracchus! This will give us a scorecard of who to NOT vote in again. Too bad there is rarely any competition for judges’ seats….
This perfect sentence sums up the Santa Cruz approach:
“His treatment program from the county is basically getting arrested over and over and hope he either drops dead or leaves town.”
Thanks MDH!
The Armory is at least moving in the right direction (out of town). Now we just need room for about 500 a little further up say Graham Hill Rd about half way between here and Scotts Valley/Camp Evers paid for by the state, although that idea using the Fairgrounds during the winter sounds good too, and problem solved (the non-profits can commute like everyone else). I see all four view ports on the Water street bridge have tents, very symmetrical bivouac roosting that.
That “Meet the Candidates” might run into pre-49’er partying, or is that the reason it’s at 10am? Does the Police Community Center have a big screen (combine the two?) Might get a bigger crowd that way (and if it was the Democratic MEN’S club, it probably would work that way! haha).
For some reason some of these groups hold their meetings in the morning or middle of the day. Great for retired folks and people that don’t work. Not so good for everyone else. And I think there are actually men in the club! Go figure.
Yes; names should be posted.
I curious, will the homeless stay at the Armory location or will they shuttle them around to places they want to hangout in the day?
I believe they will vacate the building each morning and be brought back to the pick up point outside the jail. Thanks mary!
I understand that politics makes for strange bedfellows, but please, Don Lane? Who claims that our needle problems are from Boardwalk visitors and local diabetics, that bike theft isn’t a big a deal, etc. For those who would rather stick a needle in their eye than vote for Lane, please note that you can vote for Krohn’s recall and not vote for a replacement. That’s a viable option.
You can indeed do this. And you might end up with Katherine Beiers, who is arguably worse than Don Lane or Chris Krohn. At least Don Lane isn’t posing in photos with Chris Krohn as the “back up choice”. But hey, pick someone or let others pick them for you! But vote YES on the recall.
I can’t say this enough. Everyone needs to put aside any personal beefs they have with the alternate candidates and do what’s best for everyone. Tearing them down only helps the people who want you to vote no on the recall.
Good point. I need to listen to you on this one.
You know I’m not a fan of Don Lane. Unless the alternatives are Katherine Beiers and Chris Krohn. Then he’s just the lesser evil. And in this case, that’s fine for the rest of the year. This fall election, with 4 seats available is when we need to get serious. If we can get Renee Golder elected (and I think she has a great chance), we go into the fall election with 3 fairly pragmatic city council members (Golder, Meyers, and Cummings). Then we only need to win one or 2 of those 4 seats in the fall to control the narrative moving forward (and would allow us to put this Glover/Krohn dumpster fire behind us).
I see IndyBay is smearing Renee Golder for “cultural appropriation” because she dressed up like a squaw for some Halloween party somewhere. (this was actually done last month, but I just noticed it). It’s a bad squaw outfit, but she pulls it off , sort of.
https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2019/12/03/18828578.php
What do real Native Americans think?
https://youtu.be/4JC58UYeaBs?list=PLIBtb_NuIJ1w3Buu6B5aNPWrB7wPRE-JT
I tried (but I’m stupid, I know better) to post a comment on the IndyBay site, but it was deleted within 1 minute.
I forgot to add, about the same time IndyBay did a smear against Santa Mierda calling it a “hate blog” and has added a zillion misleading comments about Renee Golder including one of those search arrest records sites that cons you into paying up to find out if there are arrest records and pretends there are, makes a repeated attempt to describe her as Republican although currently Democratic (and it’s a non-partisan office anyway). The only good laugher about this is at the bottom where it lists donations last month to IndyBay.. $182. Apparently Leftist smearing/censor all others doesn’t pay that well.
But they don’t say anything about Curtis Reliford parading around in a full-on Native American outfit during the Christmas parade…….LOL
No matter what help and programs are available police security ambulance firefighters ect ect will always have to deal with the “people “ that CHOOSE! To live a life of drug use and crime and everything that goes with it. Then there are the small group of TRULY mentally ill that are out on the streets for one reason (themselves) or a failed system and or both. Once I realized that’s what I’m dealing with is the small percent or “ people “ that are choosing to be on the streets for whatever reasons I stopped feeling sorry for them and started watching my back-the more I get threatened. I stopped bringing old clothes and blankets and just stick to doing my job.
Once the weather gets warm it’ll go back to max scum on the streets living life on there own terms. In a town that allows Hard Drug Usage in public,Allows people to sleep on the streets (and die sometimes) and expects regular people that actually work and function regularly in society THOSE people are OVER-charged for rent and not paid enough at there jobs to just stand back and watch the Freak Show. And file a crime report online cause SCPD is always to busy to handle all the thefts and break ins that go on EVERY SINGLE DAY AND NIGHT.
AND THE POLITICS….. idk. IDK