The Weekly Dump 6.10.16

Graduations Bring Gridlock to Santa Cruz


The last place you want to be this weekend is sitting in a car trying to get somewhere in Santa Cruz. It’s going to be a parking lot. Bring snacks and lots of patience. Here’s a schedule of graduation ceremonies taking place in and around Santa Cruz this weekend:

  • Ark Independent Studies: 10 a.m., Friday, DeLaveaga County Park, Santa Cruz.
  • Cypress High School: 10 a.m. Friday at the Cypress campus, 2039 Merrill St.
  • San Lorenzo Valley High School: 11 a.m., Friday, Varsity Baseball Field, San Lorenzo Valley High School, 7105 Highway 9, Felton.
  • Soquel High School: noon, Friday, Stadium, Soquel High School, 401 Old San Jose Road, Soquel.
  • Costanoa Continuation School: noon, Friday, DeLaveaga County Park on Branciforte Drive, Santa Cruz.
  • Harbor High School: 2 p.m., Friday , Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos.
  • Santa Cruz High School: 6 p.m., Friday, Cabrillo College, 6500 Soquel Drive, Aptos.
  • MCP Middle and High School: 6 p.m., Friday, 125 Bethany Drive, Scott’s Valley.
  • UC Santa Cruz graduate division: 4 p.m., Friday, East Field, UC Santa Cruz.
  • UCSC Porter College: 9 a.m., Saturday, West Field.
  • UCSC Merrill College: 9:30 a.m., Saturday, East Field.
  • UCSC College Eight: 1 p.m., Saturday, West Field.
  • UCSC Cowell College: 1:30 p.m., Saturday, East Field.
  • UCSC Oakes College: 5 p.m. Saturday, West Field.
  • UCSC Kresge College: 5:30 p.m., Saturday, East Field.
  • UCSC Crown College: 9 a.m., Sunday, East Field.
  • UCSC College Nine: 9:30 a.m., Sunday, West Field.
  • UCSC Stevenson College: 1 p.m., Sunday, East Field.
  • UCSC College Ten: 1:30 p.m., Sunday, West Field.
  • Mount Madonna School: 9 a.m. June 16, Upper Campus, Mount Madonna School, 491 Summit Road, Mount Madonna.

Local Elections Give Us More Apathy, Status Quo and Hot Air


resultsLocal election results are in and for the Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors, that means 4 more years of the same old song and dance from 3 of the 5 supervisors. Bruce McPherson, Zach Friend, and John Leopold were all easily re-elected to another 4 years. Let’s look a little deeper here. John Leopold represents District 1, with a district population of about 49,000 people. He won with about 9500 votes. That represents less than 20% of the district population. That means more than 80% of the district population didn’t vote for him. But he won in a “landslide” of about 7000 votes (in a district of 49,000, that represents about 14% of district voters). Talk about apathy in District 1! Zach Friend represents District 2, with a population of about 50,000 residents. He won with about 8500 votes. That represents less than 20% of the district population. That means more than 80% of the district population didn’t vote for him. But he won in a “landslide” of about 6300 votes (in a district of 50,000, that represents about 12% of district voters). Talk about apathy in District 2! Bruce McPherson represents District 5, with a district population of about 50,000 people. He won with about 8700 votes. That represents less than 20% of the district population. That means more than 80% of the district population didn’t vote for him. But he won in a “landslide” of about 6500 votes (in a district of 50,000, that represents about 13% of district voters). Talk about apathy in District 5! Why did 80% of these 3 districts not vote for a supervisor? Why was the turnout so dismal in an election that so many people turned out to vote for national candidates as well as local measures? Was it a lack of good candidates? A feeling of resignation? A lack of hope?

population
(Population by district, Santa Cruz County)

Seaside Company and the City of Santa Cruz Shrug as Trashcans Float Out Into the Bay


trashcansDespite constantly being warned about this ongoing issue, both the Seaside Company (whose trash cans are the ones floating out into the bay and dumping their trash into the bay) and the city (who bends over for the Seaside Company every chance it gets) continue to ignore and deflect this problem. I think it’s hilarious that Scott Collins, good soldier for the city and assistant city manager, blames the issue as a “one time mistake by a Seaside Company employee”. This has been going on for YEARS. It’s not a one time mistake. It’s a complete mess of implied responsibility between the city and the Seaside Company, with each pointing fingers and blame at each other. And I’ll bet they have a community garden plot they’d like to sell me too. Read more about it here.

PCS Moves Out and the Bums Move In


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Westside residents gave the Santa Cruz School District staff an earful recently over the city’s plans to deal with the now shuttered, former campus of the Pacific Collegiate School. The Swift Street campus, originally built as Natural Bridges Elementary School in 1967 and home to the public charter Pacific Collegiate School from 2003 to November 2015, has become a problematic nuisance for nearby residents. “I have to call the cops almost every day. We’ve had gang incidents, discarded needles; someone had a seizure here this week,” said mother and neighbor Emily Klein. “I feel like the district left it unprotected. It seems like a lack of respect and compassion.” Read More. This particular area has also developed a huge problem with RV campers parking along city streets, dumping sewage into the street, and creating problems for residents and neighbors.

Food Trucks Rolling Into San Lorenzo Park


ftToday, food trucks will be moving into San Lorenzo park from 5-8PM for the first ever “First Food Truck Friday”.

Scheduled Food Vendors
* Ate3One
* Aunt LaLi’s
* Big Wave BBQ
* Conscious Creations
* G’s Tacos
* India Gourmet
* Zocalo Tamales

Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing will be pouring favorites in the Beer Garden as well!

Free Lou Gramm Concert at the Boardwalk!


Lou Gramm, the original lead singer of multi-platinum rock group Foreigner, comes to the Boardwalk on 6/17. This show will include a popular mix of Lou’s hits from his Foreigner career, his chart-topping solo releases and new music with the Lou Gramm Band. Free shows at 6:30 and 8:30.

City Council Election Watch


Martine Watkins moved from “rumored” to “declared”. 4 of the 7 seats on the Santa Cruz city council will be up for re-election this fall. 4 is also the magic number for a “majority” so theoretically, a new “majority” could actually be voted into office and make sweeping changes. The likelihood of that happening is about zero though. There just aren’t 4 like minded candidates running with enough clout to pull this off. Very few candidates have actually declared so far, and a number of others have been “rumored” to be considering a run.

Declared Candidates:

  • J.M. Brown
  • Steve Pleich
  • Nate Kennedy
  • Dru Glover
  • Martine Watkins

Rumored Candidates:

  • Cynthia Mathews
  • Micah Posner
  • Sandy Brown
  • Mark Primack

 

2 Comments

  1. I’d like to know more about Bruce Jaffe, and why he has voted against the Aptos Village Project. His wife, Denise Elerick is an outspoken advocate for homeless and those looking for employment as well as housing after incarceration, yet her husband blocks multi use development in Aptos where they reside?

  2. I’m familiar with the Aptos Village Project (which seems to make people hate Zach Friend in Aptos but not enough to keep him from being re-elected). I only know of Jaffe from the Water District board, not sure why he’s opposed but I’ll look into it. Never heard of his wife.

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