CARTOON BY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS | |
Aren't There Laws Against Stealing
BY LAURA CHATHAM
California Government Code 911.2 says that folks have only 6 months to file a claim for property taken. In this case, belongings were stolen from Troy Mason by the City of Santa Cruz, and not returned.
Troy Mason went to the place where he was told to go to try to reclaim his "saved property" within a few days after the Police Raid ("Encampment Removal / Sweep") on Nov. 27, 2023. It was immediately clear that they didn't save anything at all. Just as he thought, they bulldozed the whole camp with 6 tents and their owner's belongings.
But in Small Claims Court in Watsonville on Dec. 12, Judge Hansen, taking his lead from Debra Allen who was in there for the City of Santa Cruz, said he would ignore Troy's request that his Claim be honored because Troy was 2 and a half months late filing the Claim. Troy and his witness stated that it was due to extenuating circumstances; Troy had a severe infection and he is homeless. The judge didn't accept those circumstances.
In Santa Cruz City’s Camping Ordinance 6.36 explains that the procedure should go as follows:
(e) If items remain at an encampment site after the relevant notice period has expired, prior to discarding items, appropriate city staff shall make a good faith attempt to identify and remove personal effects from the encampment. Any personal effects identified by city personnel shall not be discarded. (f) At the time of removal of any personal effects from an encampment, city personnel shall conspicuously post a dated notice (either at the exact location from which the personal effects were removed or at another nearby location) with the following information:
1. A statement that personal effects were removed;
2. A telephone number for information on retrieving personal effects;
3. An address where the personal effects are temporarily stored;
4. That personal effects will be stored for ninety days.
California Civil Code Section 2080.10 details that same procedure:
(a) When a public agency obtains possession of personal property from a person for temporary safekeeping, the public agency shall do all of the following:
(1) Take responsibility for the storage, documentation, and disposition of the property.
(2) Provide the person from whom the property was taken with a receipt and instructions for the retrieval of the property. The receipt and instructions shall either be given to the person from whom the property was taken at the time the public agency obtains the property or immediately mailed, by first-class mail, to the person from whom the property was taken.
Why didn't Santa Cruz government follow their own Code 6.36 and SCPD Policy 801?
And why was Troy the only party expected to comply to California Code when the city had not followed any of its ordinances and state civil code?
Judge Hansen barely listened as Troy explained that his hand had been severely infected and that he had trouble figuring out what to do and how to file a claim. Also, as an unhoused person in Santa Cruz, Troy was afraid of being targeted so it took him awhile to get his courage up to file and ask for justice.
Judge Hansen told us clearly that none of that mattered and that nothing would change his mind. Not how much property, including the survival equipment that Troy had bought with FEMA funds in August 2023, that was illegally taken from by the orders of the City of Santa Cruz. Not the suffering that Troy went through after the police raid on Nov. 27 as winter set in.
All Judge Hansen cared about was that Debra Allen from the City of Santa Cruz was teaching him about the time limit of 6 months in Code 911.2.
Troy didn't receive justice. I am so angry. But we learned from this experience and we will try and try again.
You can email the Santa Cruz City Council HERE tell them to respect people's property and follow their own ordinances.
Click HERE for instructions for filing a Claim for Damages against the City of Santa Cruz.
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Rail and Trail Still Needs Support
BY SARAH RINGLER
There are still naysayers who are actively resisting the idea of a zero-emission electric rail tram running through the county. Using various local media, they write long and confusing letters about how trains are archaic, noisy, disruptive and inferior to buses. When I wrote to a naysayer on Nextdoor that I would be happy to take a train when I could no longer drive, the respondent glibly said I could easily take the bus. This ignores the fact that buses run on the same crowded roads as cars and trucks and the point of the trains is to get some people and some of their polluting and gas-guzzling vehicles off the roads.
They do make a legitimate point that some people who live near the tracks may have their land claimed through eminent domain. This is not an uncommon practice where the government takes private property for the public good offering the owners just compensation. Given the horrible street traffic in this county and the conditions of many of the roads, it is clearly in the public interest to get more vehicles off the streets. We are fortunate to have a mostly convenient existing track structure. We just need the trains.
Although Dec. 20 is the last day to provide input to the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission and Santa Cruz City Council on rail stops in Watsonville, Westside Santa Cruz and State Park Drive, we need to continue to support good public transit.
Support Rail & Trail HERE.
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PHOTO BY KATHLEEN KILPATRICK
Strong Wind
BY KATHLEEN KILPATRICK
Strong wind came
with the night rain,
lasting through
the wet morning.
Our neighbor’s liquid amber
lost its northern third,
the part that leafs out last,
and drops leaves early.
The comb-like crown
of our small maple
was neatly cleared
of captured dead debris,
opening our ridge-line view.
The trumpet vine
retains some foliage,
no longer bears
a single bloom.
The orange umbrella
toppled, revealing
the sun’s fading.
All night,
the lemon tree scratched loudly
against the bedroom wall,
yet not a single fruit
of winter’s crop has fallen.
Oh, how ragged,
how methodical,
is this world
that we inhabit,
this world of making
and unmaking…
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Warming Center Is Open
BY BRENT ADAMS
Warming Wednesday, the hypothermia protection gear distribution program is now open. It runs every Wednesday from noon to 3pm, at 150 Felker St., Santa Cruz, at the river side gate. The following items are available: jackets, blankets, tents, clothing, shoes/socks, hygiene and bath sundries, rain gear and hypothermia gear. Available items are limited to those who sleep outside. Those in shelters, 1220 River St., and the Armory are not included in this program.
Donate items to the Donation Barrel at REI Sports, Commercial Way and 150 Felker St. where there is a Donation Portal through the fence.
Donate funding support:
At warmingcenterprogram.com or write a check and send to:
Warming Center Program
PO Box 462 Santa Cruz, CA 95061
Contact:
Emergency Homeless Info Hotline: (831) 246-1234. Office: (831) 588-9892
warmingcenterprogram@gmail.com IG: @warmingcenterprogram
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Jan. 20 - Santa Cruz March for the Dream
CONTRIBUTED BY NAACP SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
MLK Jr. People's March for the Dream has become a powerful tradition, symbolizing the ongoing pursuit of justice, equality, and civil rights for all in Santa Cruz County.
The march will begin at 10am on Mon., Jan. 20, at Pacific Ave. and Cathcart St., Santa Cruz, and will culminate in a program at the Civic Auditorium, 11am – noon. Please note that the march will happen rain or shine.
This year, we are gearing up for an impactful event and need your support to make it truly extraordinary. We are seeking sponsors, volunteers, and groups to march with us. Click here to become a March sponsor; click here to sign your group up to march; click here to volunteer to help at the March. Or just visit our website.
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Fight Back, Jan. 19 in San Francisco
BY MARK GINSBERG
For those of you who may not be able to travel to Washington, DC for the big march on Jan. 20, I urge you to participate (and bring friends, neighbors, family, and co-workers) to the rally on Jan.19 in San Francisco.
The day before Inauguration Day, Jan. 19, people from across Northern California will come together in San Francisco to demand a future that centers on the needs of the people over the interests of the wealthy elite. With voices raised for workers’ rights, immigrant rights, environmental justice, and an end to the genocide in Gaza, we will stand for working people, not a billionaire’s agenda-from the local to the global, from defending people at home to ending the U.S. war machine.
We are gathering endorsements. If you or your organization would like to endorse the SF action, please reach out to answer@answersf.org.
We also encourage our supporters to attend the SF MLK Day march the following day, on Mon., Jan. 20, 9:30am at 700 4th St., San Francisco.
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CARTOON BY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS | |
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Satilla River Cadenza
BY WOODY REHANEK
Cane pole fishing in southeast Georgia:
here the Satilla River gathers
its percolating coffee waters
in stately looping.
This blackwater river flows
from past imperfections
to the absolute stillness
of the clearwater future.
We're rooted in the opaque present.
Scrub oaks crowd riverbanks
like concerned citizens
waving Spanish moss flags.
Fish line, weights, & spinners
dangle from branches
like glittering intestines
of exotic Southern roadkill.
******
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PHOTO TARMO HANNULA
Western bluebirds rest on a light post along Bridge Street in Watsonville.
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Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report
By SARAH RINGLER
The California Department of Public Health and Santa Cruz County Health Department regularly release data on the current status of Covid-19 in the county as well as information on influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Mpox. Since cases of Covid are still appearing, and there are still vulnerable people, I will continue reporting the graphs below.
The three graphs below were updated on Dec. 11.
The first graph is the Effective Reproductive Number. When the line rises above one, it shows that the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing.
The second graph below shows data that the Health Department collects for Covid from wastewater at the City Influent, for the city of Santa Cruz, and from the Lode Street pump stations for the county.
The third graph below shows hospitalizations.
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PHOTO BY TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street - Chalk art is shown on a Watsonville sidewalk.
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Labor History Calendar - Dec. 20-26, 2024
a.k.a Know Our History Lest We Forget
Dec. 20, 1905: 11-day strike in Russia.
Dec. 20, 1960: Five-week “Winter Strike” begins – 2,000 arrested in Belgium.
Dec. 20, 1995: ACL agrees to stop using scab port after Newark, NJ dockers honor picket by locked-out Liverpool workers for third day.
Dec. 21,1916: IWW outlawed in Australia.
Dec. 21, 1995: Police turn water cannons on 2,000 Belgium strikers trying to occupy airport terminal.
Dec. 22, 1922: International Workers’ Assn. (AIT) founded in Germany.
Dec. 22, 1919: US deports 250 radicals.
Dec. 22, 1995: UPIU forces surrender pact on A.E. Staley workers, ending 30-month strike.
Dec. 23, 1908: AFL officers found in contempt of court for urging boycott.
Dec. 24, 1913: 72 miners’ children killed in panic in Calumet, Michigan.
Dec. 25, 1919: IWW forms Chilean administration.
Dec. 26, 1907: Massive NYC rent strike begins, 10,000 families participate.
Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.
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“Do not obey in advance."
Historian Timothy Snyder, expert in the rise of Nazism and how power is often freely handed to authoritarians.
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PHOTO BY TARMO HANNULA
Out of This World - English Bay in Vancouver, British Columbia, as seen from outside the Hotel Sylvia.
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Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Pecan Pie Buttertart Squares
By SARAH RINGLER
I’ll do anything to avoid making pie crusts. I commonly end up making something that resembles cardboard. It seems like I start out by adding too little water, then I try and compensate by adding too much water resulting in handling the dough too much; the perfect recipe for cardboard.
To compensate for this deficiency, I make bar cookies with butter crusts. The crust is easier to make and the end result leaves you with nice, bite-size pieces. Therefore, you don’t need the pie plate and fork. Also, bar cookies are easier to transport. This Xmas, make life a little easier with this easy and tasty dessert.
Buttertart Squares
Crust:
½ cup softened butter
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.
Mix the flour, butter and brown sugar with a pastry blender until you have evenly mixed crumbles. Press into the baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
Topping:
3 eggs
1 ½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ cup oatmeal
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Beat the eggs. Add the brown sugar, salt and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add the baking powder. Stir in the nuts or the oatmeal and nuts.
When the crust has baked for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and pour the topping over the crust. Return to the oven and bake and additional 20 minutes longer. Cool and then cut into squares.
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Submit a story, poem or photo of your art that you think would be of interest to the people of Santa Cruz County. Try and keep the word count to around 400. Also, there should be suggested actions if this is a political issue. Submit to coluyaki@gmail.com
Send comments to coluyaki@gmail.com
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To subscribe or contact, email coluyaki@gmail.com.
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Thanks, Sarah Ringler
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