Taking Care of Our Own - 89% Houseless Lived in Santa Cruz County Before Losing Their Homes 

By SARAH RINGLER

For months now I have been contacting various elected officials in the county and state trying to trace down the Santa Cruz County’s 2022 Homeless-Point-In-Time Count and Survey, a comprehensive count of the local homeless population. Conducted in February by Applied Survey Research it had still not been released publicly by mid-August despite other counties in California, like San Mateo, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo and San Benito that have already announced and posted their results.

Finally, thanks to Ari Parker, Mayor of Watsonville, I now have it. Here is the link for the Santa Cruz County PIT counts from 2011-2022. There is the Full Report but the Executive Summaries have easy-to-read graphics making it simpler to see what’s going on. 

For so long I have heard, and even heard just recently from a local public official running for office, that the unhoused people in the county are from out of town and come here because of the great weather and the supposedly permissive ambience. That evidence is not born out in the survey. 89% resided in the county at the time of becoming homeless. That number is up from 74% in 2019. Even back in 2015, 84% were locals, and the majority, 60%, had lived here 10 years or more. With the continuing lack of and high cost of housing, these numbers are only going to get worse.

It makes sense that if you lose your housing, you would want to stay where you have friends and are familiar with the environment. Some of these people are our family and friends, and marginalizing and demonizing them doesn’t help. Contact your city and county officials and call for a humane and sympathetic response to this local issue.

See county supervisor contacts below in Oversight of Sheriffs story. 

Watsonville City Council contact

Santa Cruz City Council contact

Above are downtown Santa Cruz city lots that are designated for affordable housing by Measure O. 

YES on Measure O: More Housing Sooner than with the City Plan

By RICK LONGINOTTI

Recently Serf City printed an article opposing Measure O. The article argued that Measure O’s mandate to build affordable housing on city-owned lots in Santa Cruz's downtown does not justify stopping the city’s garage-library-housing project. The authors state that the project “has already secured all of its approvals and financing and is scheduled to break ground soon.” This is not accurate. The City website states that the project will go for approval in 2023. The financing of the project cannot be secured for many years, due to the inability of the city’s Downtown Parking District to demonstrate an ability to pay the debt on the 30 year bonds. 

Since the pandemic, the Parking District has run record deficits, exhausting all reserves. See chart below. With more downtown workers telecommuting, and many storefronts still shuttered, parking revenue may never reach a level that supports bond debt, or it may be years before it does so. If there’s no garage financing, there will be no housing, since the city plan calls for housing built on top of the 4-level garage. If we want affordable housing in the near term, we need to pass Measure O. 

Measure O will create more housing than the 124 units promised by the city plan. Measure O would amend the General Plan to require affordable housing on upper floors of 2.47 acres of city lots downtown. This will result in upwards of 300 units built.

Measure O will require affordable housing on upper floors of the city parcels on either side of the SCC Credit Union on Front St. The city’s current plan is to sell these lots to a hotel developer. At this time of need for affordable housing, city property should be used for public benefit, not for luxury hotels. 

Measure O prioritizes housing people over housing cars. It provides that when and if the Parking District achieves a surplus of revenue over expenses, the priority for the surplus revenue is affordable housing development. The city’s plan is to spend the surplus revenue on a garage. 

The article calls “baseless” the concern that a garage is not needed. This conclusion runs counter to three parking experts who advised the City Planning and Downtown Commissions in 2015, as well as the Nelson\Nygaard Parking Strategic Plan performed under a $100,000 contract with the city. It is impossible to overstate how far the city’s plan to build a garage is out of step with expert consensus to avoid building new parking supply through better management of existing parking, including pricing and commuter benefits. 

In preserving lot 4 for the Farmers Market and a town square (while permitting housing on Lot 4 compatible with that use), Measure O recognizes open space as a social equity issue. As the city’s General Plan says, “Residents need access to parks, open space, and other places where they can relax and socialize.”

A vote for Measure O is a vote to develop affordable housing without the millstone of a garage delaying construction. It is a choice to use city money on affordable housing, not car storage. It is a choice to use city land for affordable housing, not selling it to a hotel developer. It is a vote to provide an “outdoor living room” for downtown dwellers and visitors. 

Meetings on Oversight of the Sheriff's Office To Be Held Around the County

By PETER GELBLUM

Santa Cruz County has scheduled three more public meetings to obtain input about the plans for a structure to provide oversight of the Sheriff's operations, including the jail and patrol. We had a good turnout at the first meeting, with most speakers urging the county to establish powerful and meaningful oversight, including going beyond the single independent auditor concept, and implementing the civilian oversight Board that AB 1185 permits. We need even larger turnouts at the remaining meetings, all of which are both in person and virtual. Details of the meetings are below. Below that is the email I sent out about the first meeting, which explains the situation and the need, and suggested questions to ask of the County representativeS. I hope you can attend, and thanks for all you do.

The meetings will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. in the following locations:

• Tuesday: Highlands Park Community Room, 8500 Highway 9, Ben Lomond.

• Wednesday: Aptos Park Community Room, 100 Aptos Creek Road, Aptos.

• Sept. 19: Watsonville City Hall Community Room, 250 Main St., Watsonville.

Participation via Zoom is also available. To join any meeting virtually, visit us06web.zoom.us. The webinar ID is 876 9482 4214. To join by standard telephone, call 669-444-9171 or 719-359-4580.

In January 2022, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors authorized the hiring of an "auditor" or inspector general pursuant to AB 1185. If it's done properly, the auditor will provide, for the first time, truly independent oversight of the operations of the Sheriff's Office in its patrols, jail, and other capacities. If it is not done right, an enormous opportunity will be lost. The county is now beginning a series of public meetings with community members to discuss this issue, educate the community, and most critically to obtain community input. Attached is a PowerPoint presentation that was given to a bar association earlier this year that provides background information.

A large show of participation and broad range of input are crucial.  If you cannot attend in person, we would appreciate it if you would sign on to the zoom, learn what is happening, and let the county know of your interest. Feel free to forward this link to anyone who might be interested.  

Questions to ask: 

Will the IG/Auditor have subpoena power?

Will the IG/Auditor have the authority to initiate independent investigations?

Will the IG/Auditor respond directly to resident/prisoner complaints?

Will the IG/Auditor scope of jurisdiction over Sheriff's operations be in any way limited?

Will the IG/Auditor have authority to hold public hearings?

Will the IG/Auditor have a guaranteed budget?

Will the IG/Auditor have independent legal counsel?

Will the IG/Auditor have public reporting responsibilities?

Will the IG/Auditor be barred from being a current or former law enforcement officer or someone with ties to a law enforcement representation group?

Santa Cruz County Supervisors: 

Manu Koenig http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/Government/BoardofSupervisors/District1.aspx

Ryan Coonerty ryan.coonerty@santacruzcounty.us   

Zach Friend zach.friend@santacruzcounty.us   

Bruce McPherson Fifth.District@santacruzcounty.us

Greg Caput greg.caput@santacruzcounty.us  

Summer Fruits #2

By KATHLEEN KILPATRICK 

To taste peach bruises

is to be a child again, as is 

the flavor of warm blackberry,

plucked between the briars,

or bland, soft, salmon berries

that smell of redwood forest,

and huckleberries, concentrated,

bursting with bear vigilance.

Sticky chins from competition 

spitting cherry pits, and seeds, 

when watermelons had them,

the gritty red of strawberries

you got down on your knees for, 

all so fleeting on the tongue,

so deeply etched in memory.

 

Photo by TARMO HANNULA 

Canada geese take a stroll to the edge of Pinto Lake in the Pajaro Valley. 

Santa Cruz County Covid-19 Report 

By SARAH RINGLER

The Santa Cruz County Health Department regularly releases data on the current status of Covid-19 and monkeypox in the county. Pfizer and Moderna Bivalent Covid-19 boosters are now available. Go HERE for details. 

There were no new Covid deaths this week. Click to view a graph of hospitalizations here.

The department is monitoring for monkeypox viral DNA in wastewater solids. The heatmaps and charts display data from WastewaterSCAN’s monitoring for monkeypox viral DNA; the results shown include the northern California communities served by the Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network (SCAN) and the communities in California and across the US participating in WastewaterSCAN.

Because of the availability of home testing, I will no longer report on changes in the active cases in the county. The Health Department is now collecting data from wastewater at the City Influent for the city of Santa Cruz, and from the Lode Street pump stations for the county. See webpage HERE. The first chart below shows the latest county data from Aug. 31.



Here are details on the county's vaccination data. 

This webpage also has a link where you can get a digital copy and scannable QR code of your vaccination record. Keep track of your four-digit code because that is your access to the site.

The county's Effective Reproductive Number is still below one. See the second chart below. Numbers above one show the spread of the virus is increasing. Below one means the spread is decreasing. The chart, released from the California Department of Public Health below shows several predictions from different agencies. For information, click here.

The government is issuing free Antigen Rapid Tests here. If you have not ordered tests or have only ordered one set, you are entitled to a full 12 boxes. Order now while supplies last. To get information of COVID-19 testing locations around the county visit this site. You can make an appointment for a Rapid Antigen Test here.

Any Californian, ages six months and older can get vaccinated for free. For information on getting vaccinated, click here.

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Fashion Street - A jogging health care provider models getting in shape. 

Letter to the Editor

Dear editor, 

Thank you so much for publishing the Serf City Times. But I must tell you that I completely disagree with last week's article about measure O. 

A Yes vote on Measure O will be the best choice for Santa Cruz. 

For one thing, Measure O will stop the building of a luxury hotel that is already in the planning stage for the river front side of Front Street all the way from Laurel to Cathcart. This hotel would have 230 rooms, only 16 parking spaces, and 2 swimming pools that we don't need and that will limit access to the river walk. Passage of Measure O will ensure that land will be used for the truly low income housing that we sorely need. 

About the "affordable housing" that was added to the garage/library project to try to sweeten the deal and divide the community: "Affordable housing" is defined as 80% of the median income. The median income in Santa Cruz is currently $84,000 per year. 80% of $84,000 is about $66,000 per year. That means that the real estate interests that will be collecting the money might charge a third of $66,000 a year for the rent. No one that I know that needs housing will be able to afford it. Not students or unhoused folks. (One needs to make about $33 per hour to have an income of $66,000 a year. I hear Encompass is hiring Peer Support Councilors for $17 to $20 per hour)

The garage/ library project is supported by the real estate investing interests who I understand are in this to make as much money as possible for themselves and their investors.

The plan to remodel the library in its current location was done by the same architecture firm that designed the Los Gatos Library- which is beautiful. Their plan for our library is also beautiful and affordable. 

I have been canvassing for Measure O. Most of the folks I have talked with are in favor of keeping the plan they voted for when Measure S passed in 2016. Measure S agreed to the fiscally responsible choice to remodel the library where it currently is in the City Center instead of saddling Santa Cruz with $2,900,000/year payments for the next 30 years to pay for the garage library. (That's about $45 per Santa Cruz resident - including children - per year.) How would we be able to fund any other project including any truly low income housing?

There is only one ethical way to end the crisis of unhoused folks living in the streets: That is to provide truly low income housing.

We have students and City employees living in cars and tents. Also, many of those living on the streets of Santa Cruz were once children who graduated from Santa Cruz high schools. Many others have mental health challenges and substance abuse disorders. And others do not have these problems: they simply don't make enough money. 

Supporters of Measure O have been monitoring the parking garages that already exist in Santa Cruz. We have photos showing hundreds of parking spaces available at peak times. Besides, won't it be necessary to move away from using individual cars for transportation way before the 30 years it would take to pay for this garage/ library complex? 

And they want this huge garage/ library to benefit who? Real estate interests at the expense of the rest of us. Measure O may be our only chance to stop the destruction of Santa Cruz as we know it and tell City Staffers to do the right thing and listen to the people of Santa Cruz: Honor the passage of Measure S and remodel our library where it is. 

Please vote Yes on measure O. Thanks for listening. 

Respectfully,

Laura Chatham 

Labor History Calendar Sept. 9-15, 2022

a.k.a Know Your History Lest We Forget

Sept. 9,1919 – Over 1,000 Boston police strike when 19 union leaders are fired for organizing activities.

Sept. 9, 1991: Canadian gov’t workers launch 8-day strike.

Sept. 9, 2016: Prisoners strike across US demanding end to unpaid labor. 

Sept. 10, 1797: Pioneering feminist Mary Wollstonecraft dies. 

Sept. 10, 1897: 19 striking coal miners killed by police in Lattimer, Pennsylvania.

Sept. 11, 1925: IWW marine strike.

Sept. 11, 1973: Allende gov’t overthrown in CIA-backed coup.

Sept. 12, 1918: Eugene Debs, sentenced to 10 years for opposing the war.

Sept. 12, 1932: Jobless seize food in Toledo, Ohio.

Sept. 12, 1936: IWW seaman strike to block arms shipment to Franco’s fascists and ISU scabs.

Sept. 13, 1971: Rebellion at Attica prison’ police kill 39 prisoners and hostages.

Sept. 14, 1979: Margaret Sanger born.

Sept. 14, 1959: Landrum-Griffin Act passed; severely limits union activity. 

Sept. 15, 1845: Women cotton workers strike for 10-hour day in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. 

Labor History Calendar has been published yearly by the Hungarian Literature Fund since 1985.

"A poet should show as many sides of himself as is decently possible."

Theodore Roethke

Photo by TARMO HANNULA

Classic Butter Tarts

By SARAH RINGLER

Although there are similar pies and tarts from other parts of the world, the butter tart is claimed as a Canada original. There are festivals, tours, trails and bakeoffs. Historical records show the first published recipe by Mrs. Mary Ethel MacLeod from Barrie, Ontario, appeared in The Women's Auxiliary of the Royal Victoria Hospital Cookbook. This particular recipe, however, is from the famous Canadian women's magazine, Chatelaine. 

The crust on these tarts is remarkable. The dough forms easily and makes a nice puffy crust when baked. You could fill these crusts with just about anything. The filling is similar to pecan pie except there are no pecans. Maple syrup make them particularly Canadian. You can add pecans if you want and I have made these with chopped walnuts and with raisins too. When you're the cook, you're the boss. 

This recipe makes twelve tarts out of a regular-sized twelve-hole muffin pan. They are very rich. Usually one per person is enough. 

Crust: 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed 

1/4 cup cold solid vegetable shortening - like Crisco, cubed 

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/4 cup ice water

Filling: 

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/3 cup white corn syrup

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 eggs

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted 

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine flour and salt in a food processor and mix well with pastry blade. Add butter and shortening. Pulse until coarse crumbs form. Whisk yolk, vinegar and ice water in a small bowl. With motor running, pour through feed tube while pulsing until just combined. Wrap with plastic wrap and press into a disc. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Put the oven rack in the bottom of oven. Preheat oven to 450F.

Whisk sugar, corn syrup, maple syrup, eggs, butter, vanilla, vinegar and salt in a bowl until smooth.

Butter muffin cups bottoms and sides to make it easier to remove the tarts after baking. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to ⅛-in. thickness. Cut into 12 rounds using a 4 ½-in. round cookie cutter, re-rolling scraps. Gently press rounds into a 12-cup muffin pan or into two smaller muffin pans. Press bottom and edges to form a cup. Refrigerate for 20 min. Spoon 2 tablespoons of filling into each pastry.

Bake for 8 minutes.  Reduce heat to 400F and open oven slightly for 10 seconds.  Bake until filling is puffed and pastry is golden, about 7 minutes more.  Let stand on rack for 3 minutes. Run a small dull knife around the edges of tarts and transfer to rack to cool completely. 

Welcome to Serf City Times Our county has problems and many people feel left out. Housing affordability, racism and low wages are the most obvious factors. However, many groups and individuals in Santa Cruz County work tirelessly to make our county a better place for everyone. These people work on the environment, housing, economic justice, health, criminal justice, disability rights, immigrant rights, racial justice, transportation, workers’ rights, education reform, gender issues, equity issues, electoral politics and more. Often, one group doesn’t know what another is doing. The Serf City Times is dedicated to serving as a clearinghouse for those issues by letting you know what is going on, what actions you can take and how you can support these groups.This is a self-funded enterprise and all work is volunteer. 

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