|
Coral Street Homeless Sweeps Pressured by Housing Matters
BY SARAH RINGLER
PHOTO BY TARMO HANNULA
Housing Matters held a March to End Homelessness in downtown Santa Cruz, May 18 where around 300 people participated.
Is it possible that the leaders of Housing Matters, with the motto “We believe homelessness should be rare, brief and non-recurring,” directed Santa Cruz’s City Manager, Matt Huffaker to call out the police to break up a homeless camp directly in front of Homeless Matters's own facilities?
Police usually don’t initiate sweeps of homeless camps. Direction to conduct a sweep comes from city government. It isn’t a pretty scene. Campers are usually given a short time to leave on their own before police, work crews with trucks and dumpsters move in and start disposing of belongs. You are stuck carrying what you can in your arms or shopping cart. In this case, according to witnesses, a 5-day notice was posted but it was reportedly posted in hard to read and reach places. No alternative sites were offered.
I remember one sweep at a parking lot camp on Front Street and Broadway a few years ago before Covid. There was a large plastic zippered suit bag lying on the ground. Inside the bag was a shiny well-made purple suit jacket that looked like something a musician or a performer would own. How many personal belongings, mementos and valuables have had to be sacrificed because the owners no longer had a place to keep them?
According to Santa Cruz City Councilperson Sandy Brown, Housing Matters administration pressured Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker to order the
the sweeps.
On June 3, police descended on 100 block of Coral Street forcefully removing people who had been camping on the sidewalk and the street between two Housing Matters buildings. That block also has other places that serve as resources for our homeless population. According to Athena, who did not want to give her last name, thousands of dollars’ worth of survival equipment was destroyed or stolen. Read her full report below. As a result, many moved up into the Pogonip without their belongings and farther away from the resources and services that are offered by Housing Matters and other agencies nearby. For example, Santa Cruz County Homeless Persons Health Project which provides medical, mental health and substance abuse treatment also is on Coral St. Patients now have to come from farther away to access their services.
The sweep on Monday did not end. Some people moved their belongings over to nearby Fern Street. A sweep followed the next day and continued over the week; a crowd of around 30-50 people were displaced. Housing Matters provided no alternative sites and no storage or help was given.
Housing Matter’s operating revenue for June 2023 was $11.8 million with 46% from donations and 46% from government grants. People donate money believing that they are helping people. The government gives money believing that something is being done to alleviate homelessness. A past Serf City Times article focused on the non-profit's high spending on staffing with few being helped into housing. Calulations from their 2023 Annual Report revealed that on average, only four individuals per each staff member got housing for 2023. The last Serf City article covered Housing Matters's silence around police sweeps. Now they are actively supporting sweeps.
Less than a month ago on May 18, Housing Matters, the largest organization that addresses homelessness in Santa Cruz according to their website, took over the streets of downtown Santa Cruz to hold a March to End Homelessness where around 300 people participated.
I'm still waiting to hear back from Phil Kramer, CEO of Housing Matters. You may also try and contact him HERE.
Contact Santa Cruz City Council HERE. Santa Cruz City Mayor Fred Keeley proudly walked at the front of Housing Matters' March to End Homelessness on May 18. Contact Santa Cruz County Supervisors HERE. Also, contact your state representatives to let them know how their grant money was spent.
| |
|
Tragedy on Coral Street
EDITED BY SARAH RINGLER
Here is Athena's report on what happened in the early morning of June 3:
"I arrived early, maybe at 6:20am, with water, trash bags, and cigarettes. A friend of mine with Bread and Roses brought breakfast and coffee — it was quickly all eaten up.
Some folks were playing music on speakers, packing up, helping others pack.
Overhead flew a drone several times before anyone showed up. The Parks and Recreation team show up around 7:20am at the earliest; they were polite. They offered trash bags and started encouraging people to get moving. The police showed up around 7:50am with a sergeant walking on to the scene at 7:57am.
The police quickly started putting up crime scene caution tape and telling everyone that they have had enough time and must leave the area immediately. They started at the side of Coral that Housing Matters is on next to Coral Street.
The police, like bullying robots repeated over and over, “You must leave,” and “If you don’t leave, you will be arrested.”
A woman in her early 30s, with an acute stress disorder, did not have her items packed in time. I, my friend, and two other friends helped her grab as much as she possibly could. The police continued to threaten to arrest her for not listening as she tried to grab her most important items. She begged, tearing up, that she needs them to stop threatening her because she is freaking out and having trouble breathing. They don’t stop. Another bystander yells at them that she needs help, to let her grab some more items. They smiled as they put up more caution tape and reasserted that if anyone crossed the tape or grabbed, something that they would be arrested.
At this point they had moved half way down the street. I watched them toss tents, bicycles, generators, clothing, coolers full of food, all into a trash compactor. The Parks and Rec people kept their heads down while they swept, picked up, and disposed of these peoples' personal property.
I have never seen the cops help in the cleaning. They stand around, I over heard them talk about their weekend plans, and saw several of them are on their phones. Sgt. Ross is snide. He wears sunglasses and won’t look anyone in the eye. He brags that there was enough notice and tells people over and over again that if they wanted to have their items then they should have moved already. But there was no where to move to.
Brandon Lima, Badge 426, is often very mean to the people, making fun of them. He remarked to someone in front of me that they must not love their dog because if they did they would have a home for them. A warm blanket in a tent can be home enough for a dog who loves and protects their owner as their owner loves and protects them.
One sweet dog that I have met many times and often heard referred to as an angel is a dog named Hera. The police threatened that animal control was going to take her to the pound. Her owner explained that he was right here and that was his dog! The cops laughed and bragged that they already knew that this dog was named Yo-Yo and her owner wasn’t present. They said things like “Stop lying, we know she isn’t yours,” and to those of us begging them to listen to her owner that that is indeed Hera, they said, “Don’t get in the middle of this” and “don’t lie on his (the owner's) behalf.”
Eventually they listened to an advocate because they nearly never listen to the homeless people themselves. They begrudgingly let the owner keep poor Hera. This is who Brandon Lima shamed for not loving their dog enough.
The police destroyed so much property. Some of the most important items that were stolen and trashed were laptops, portable chargers, generators, medication, tents, bedding, shoes, clothing, a 40 pound bag of dog food.
The police then came back each day since Monday to continue to throw away anything that people had not moved an arbitrary “far enough away.” People who moved to Fern St., Limekiln St., Pioneer St., etc we’re all subsequently harassed by police to move further away or have their stuff thrown away. Many of the people who were living on Coral Street were disabled and cannot carry all of their items into the Pogonip alone on short notice. People were exhausted, in extreme pain and despair that everything they have collected in order to keep living was thrown in the garbage. There is no where to move to, many have personally witnessed how the Pogonip is not any safer from police sweeps and danger than anywhere else. There is no where to go and moving farther from services such as Santa Cruz County Homeless Person's Health Project is very dangerous.
| |
|
Petition Demanding Panetta Take Action for Palestine
BY SARAH RINGLER
Jimmy Panetta, the US. House Representative for California's District 19, has repeatedly acted against the wishes of his constituents, particularly when it comes to the issue of Palestine. These transgressions have become more egregious in the wake of the current genocide. If you agree, please sign this petition.
| |
Santa Cruz Juneteenth
CONTRIBUTED BY SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BRANCH NAACP
Santa Cruz Juneteenth celebrates Black Liberation and Freedom through embracing our shared Black culture. Join us for a day of Arts from the Diaspora, delicious soul food, craft booths, kids activities, a second line parade and a basketball skills contest.
In 1991, Raymond Evans, then Assistant Director of the Louden Nelson Center, introduced Juneteenth to Santa Cruz. As a Texas native, Evans was surprised by the lack of Juneteenth recognition in Santa Cruz, and aimed to bring the celebration's sense of community and pride to the city. The festivities at Louden Nelson Community Center have since been a great success, thanks to their diverse offerings. The event also honors former slave London "Louden" Nelson, a local legend known for his generosity to the school system, who has been a cultural symbol in Santa Cruz for over a century.
Juneteenth marks the day the last group of enslaved African Americans learned that they were free on June 19, 1866. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective 1863, there was difficulty getting it implemented in places that were still under Confederate control. When some 200 Union troops came to Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that the 250,000 enslaved blacks were liberated by executive decree. It was a jubilee. That day is known as Juneteenth, and is African American Independence Day.
Juneteenth is now a federal holiday. You can learn more about America's second Independence day here.
| |
|
Response to Brave and Free Society Regarding the Ukraine
BY MARY LYNN SIMONS
The Brave and Free Society does not acknowledge human nature and the fact that aggression happens: nations attack, and as we see throughout history, they attack over and over again. Those attacked fight back with all they've got. The Society advocates freedom and peace, but when a country like Russia is trying to take Ukraine and obviously wants even more of Europe, they support their effort with the twisted thinking that Russia, the attacker is itself the injured party. Where is the freedom for the Ukrainians? The Brave and Free Society hate NATO, but Russia's aggression has caused NATO to grow with new members, Sweden and Finland, who greatly fear Russia. Under the tsars, especially Peter the Great, Russia was expansionist and under Stalin as well. After WWII, Stalin took various eastern European countries. Stalin was responsible for the starvation death of millions of Ukrainians in the 30s. The Soviets took the entire harvest to feed the USSR, as it industrialized and became urban. Because Ukrainian farmers refused to give up their land and join the Soviet collectivization movement, they were punished. This was the Ukrainian genocide. Many people, including the Brave and Free Society, believe the US economy operates like a pot of money sitting on the kitchen table. With the right budget, all will be fine. Now they are imagining that the money used to help Ukraine would otherwise be used to create equal opportunity in the US. We are a democratic/capitalistic nation, and political factors influence supply and demand and conversely, supply and demand influence politics. There will be no perfect government to solve our problems. We can only try, through our political system, to create better outcomes.
The Brave and Free Society wants an enemy. As if they are reading a "Who-dunnit," they guess who the culprit is, and they have come up with the idea that it's America, who is pulling the world's strings, to create the war in Ukraine, among other evils. The motivation of the US is to get rich; "war is a good way to get rich": Capitalism is the easy scapegoat of this Society — simplistic thinking. Way before capitalism, which began with the Dutch in the 17th century, those in power were trying to gain wealth. Look at all the gold stolen from the Americas by the Spanish and Portuguese kings and queens. The Brave and Free Society is sympathetic to Russia in order to blame their favorite enemy, the US — their own country which they love to hate and which they blame for the world's evils.
Simple thinkers need an enemy in order to feel good about themselves: with an established enemy they can be the self-righteous good guys -- the ones who really see the truth and tell it like it is. This black and white thinking goes back to philosophical dualism and the Bible. Good and evil, right and wrong. Look for the enemy. Just live by the Ten Commandments. According to science, people are mammals that fight back when attacked. Ukraine is fighting back and Europe and the US are coming to their aid; we are allies. We could spend billions to help create a more equal society as well as help Ukraine. In order to make this happen, the only thing we can do is vote for the candidate who most closely follows our values. Trump is an isolationist; he's not blaming Putin; in fact it's obvious he really likes him. Trump is the type of populist who will say whatever to earn votes. If he is elected, we have no idea what he will do, but it's almost certain he won't want to aid Ukraine.
The Brave and Free Society would like to change the world, but I suggest they first try to bravely attempt to understand its complexities as well as acknowledge the basic truth that people who are attacked fight back hard and look to their allies to support them. Europe is our natural ally and we have aided them in two world wars, which isolationists did not support. Would The Brave and Free Society be happy if all of Europe were now Germany and if Japan today controlled China and southeast Asia? I suggest the Society have the courage to realize that human beings are mammals that behave certain ways under certain circumstances — that is, they fight back when attacked. This is simply the truth.
| |
Tiny Homes in Watsonville
BY SARAH RINGLER
Recurso de Fuerza Village, Resource of Strength, is the name of the small village that is to be built, and hopefully completed by November, in the rear lot behind the church’s gym at Westview Presbyterian Church, 118 First St., Watsonville. The village will be have 34 rooms and will be occupied by people who are currently living on the levee of the Pajaro River. Monterey County initiated and funded the project. Santa Cruz County will take it over in two years.
The church is looking for sponsors for the rooms and for items like welcoming mats, pictures, flowering plants, bedside lamps etc. to decorate the rooms and make the places liveable.
Westview Presbyterian Church continues to provide soup, cereal, sack lunches and coffee at the Pajaro River levee at River Park in Watsonville, Monday-Fridays at 7:30am. They are looking for donations of breakfast cereal. Contact the church HERE.
| |
|
Labor Notes - Newswatch, June 2024
EDITED BY SARAH RINGLER
I selected a few items from this month's newsletter:
Unionized workers got big wage increases last year, while nonunion workers barely kept up with inflation, according to Bloomberg analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Union members in the private sector averaged 6.3% raises from April 2023 to March 2024, while workers at the private sector, nonunion workplaces got only 4.1%. The annual wage gains for union members were a record for BLS data, which goes back to 2001.
In Argentina, unions held their second general strike since far-right economist Javier Milei took office as president in December. Milei’s agenda is a far-reaching privatization of public enterprises and deep cuts to workers’ rights, social security and public health. The Buenos Aires Times reported mostly empty streets, with schools, banks and most shops shut down, garbage uncollected, rail terminals closed and the airport largely vacant. “The port of Rosario, which exports 80% of the nations agro-industrial production, was all but paralyzed in the midst of its busiest season,” the paper reported. In February, Milei was featured speaker at the Conservative Political Action conference in D.C., alongside Donald Trump.
To subcribe to Labor Notes, click HERE.
| |
|
CARTOON BY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS
| |
|
Doctor Chen
BY WOODY REHANEK
I tried Buddhist non-attachment
but my retina is detaching
so you better get a-cracking
Doctor Chen...
They'll inject those little bubbles
& I hope they don't cause trouble
when they glue it back together
once again, Doctor Chen.
I played many hands of poker
I was rolling in the clover
& I hope the one-eyed Jack
leaves me alone.
If my retina be a-healing
I won't do no double-dealing,
sing out loud in quiet zones
or hide my old dog's favorite bone.
| |
|
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
At Pinto Lake City Park in Watsonville, a common moorhen (left) and an American coot swim near the boat launch ramp.
| |
|
Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report - Rt rises above 1 Fifth Week in a Row
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.
At-home Covid-19 test kits are currently available at the Watsonville Public Library, Main St.
The three graphs below were updated on June 12.
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.
| |
|
Photo TARMO HANNULA
Fashion Street - This person sports a striped umbrella, a long red coat and a modern tote bag along Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz.
| |
|
Labor History Calendar - June 14-27, 2024
a.k.a Know Our History Lest We Forget
June 14, 1905: Battleship Potemkin mutiny.
June 14, 1924: San Pedro, CA – IWW hall raided by thugs; children are scalded and hall demolished.
June 14, 2009: General strikes across Brazil.
June 15, 1990: Battle of Century City, police attack striking SEIU janitors and supporters in Los Angeles.
June 15, 1996: Borders Books in Philadelphia fires worker for IWW organizing, sparking international picketing.
June 15, 2018: General strike in Nicaragua.
June 16, 1953: A few dozen construction workers strike against speed-up sparking a rebellion in East Germany.
June 16, 1987: Paper workers strike mill near Portland, Maine.
June 17, 1913: IWW strike at Studebaker.
June 17, 1953: East German workers strike and revolt for democracy; Russia invades to restore law and order.
June 17, 2013: Millions protest transit fares and World Cup costs in Brazil.
June 18, 1984: Striking miners face off against thousands of police at Orgreave coking plant in England.
June 18, 1990: Redwood summer blockade of lumber exports in Sonoma, CA.
June 18, 2012: General Strike backs Asturian miners fighting pit closing in Spain.
June 19, 1953: ILWU begins four-day general strike against jailing of 7 unionists in Hawaii.
June 19, 2016 Police murder at least eight striking teachers and students in Oaxaca, Mexico.
June 20, 1893: American Railway Union headed by Eugene Debs is founded.
June 21, 1877: 10 Molly Maguires hanged.
June 21, 1919: Police attack Winnipeg, Canada crowd killing two in a bid to break a general strike.
June 21, 1945: General strike starts in Nigeria.
June 21, 1964: Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner murdered in Mississippi.
June 22, 1920: Gendarmes open fire following rally to support striking rail workers; 5 killed in Milan, Italy.
June 23, 1947: Anti-worker Taft-Hartley Act passed by Congress.
June 24, 1848: Birth of Albert Parsons, Haymarket martyr.
June 24, 1917: IWW Domestic Workers Union supplies sandwiches to draft resisters in Duluth, Minnesota jail.
June 24, 2022: General strike against austerity in Tunisia.
June 25, 1994: Decatur, IL police pepper-gas workers at A.E. Staley plant gate.
June 25, 2018: General strike against austerity in Argentina.
June 25, 2022: Third UK rail strike fights frozen wages and inadequate staffing.
June 26, 1894: ARU refuses to handle Pullman cars in solidarity with strikers who build them.
June 26, 1917: Copper bosses reject Bisbee, Arizona miners’ demands sparking IWW strike the next day.
June 27, 1869: Emma Goldman born.
June 27, 1905: Industrial Workers of the World founding convention begins in Chicago.
June 27, 1993: A.E. Staley locks out 763 workers in Decatur, IL.
Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.
| |
|
That's why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.
George Carlin
| |
 | |
Photo by TARMO HANNULA
Gargouillou To You
By SARAH RINGLER
In an effort to keep all of us California central coast gourmands up to date, I bring you Gargouillou (pronounced gar-gu-YU). For the uninitiated, it is a dish that is composed of the daily offerings from one's garden. It essentially combines the gardener with the cook. Monsieur Michel Bras, a self-taught chef from Laguiole, France, is credited by many chefs around the world as the originator of this dish.
Now, I know that some of you gardeners and cooks are thinking, I’ve been doing this for years. “Non!” An experienced gargouillou must have not only fresh vegetables from the garden but also edible flowers and something edible that resembles dirt. It must also be visually pleasing.
At Manresa, David Kinch’s former restaurant in Los Gatos, the black dirt was made out of roasted chicory root and dried potatoes. A restaurant in Copenhagen, called Noma, uses sprinkled malt powder. Chef Dominique Crenn, from the InterContinental San Francisco, made his soil out of black olives.
The faux dirt in this salad recipe is bulgar wheat, made dark with pomegranate molasses and tomato paste. It is a rich and flavorful and goes well with roasted chicken and vegetables. You can buy California pomegranate molasses from Skylake Ranch HERE. You can also by an imported brand at Shoppers Corner or Staff of Life in Santa Cruz and Watsonville.
Bulgar Salad with Pomegranate Dressing and Toasted Nuts
2 3/4 cups bulgar, preferably coarse ground
3/4 cup olive oil
6 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
juice of 3 lemons
6 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or more
pepper
2 cups walnuts
1 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Put bulgar in a large bowl and cover with cold lightly salted water. Soak until tender, from 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the coarseness of the bulgar. Drain in a sieve, pressing out all excess water. Put into a bowl.
Whisk olive oil with pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, tomato paste and spices. Add salt and pepper to taste. The mixture should taste pleasingly spicy. Add more pomegranate molasses or lemon as needed.
Pour half of the dressing over the bulgar and mix well. Set aside to absorb for about 10 minutes. Taste for salt. Add the other half of the dressing, the nuts and parsley and mix well. Serve.
| |
|
Send your story, poetry or art: Please 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
If you are enjoying the Serf City Times, forward it on to others.
Subscribe, contact or find back issues at the website https://serf-city-times.constantcontactsites.com
Thanks, Sarah Ringler
| | | | |
