The Weekly Dump 11.11.16

We Have a Brand New City Council!

wow

Congratulations to Cynthia Mathews, Martine Watkins, and Robert Singleton, who all apparently won seats on the city council this week. All 3 of them were endorsed by the Weekly Dump too! I say apparently because not EVERY vote has been counted yet, with some absentee ballots remaining to be counted. Currently a total of 47 votes separate the 4th place finisher (Singleton) from the 5th place finisher (JM Brown). But it’s likely to stand because anyone voting for JM Brown probably also voted for Singleton too. Mathews and Watkins have solidly won the top 2 spots, but only 8 votes separate them. 8 votes! See why it’s important to vote!

Oh, and Chris Krohn won too. The “Brand New Council” will bring their army of one to the new city council. Chris was the only one of their candidates who managed to crack the top 4. So we trade Don Lane and Micah Posner for Chris Krohn. I’m ok with that. Chris will give us plenty of material for the Weekly Dump for the next 4 years. 

So here are my bon mots and parting shots at this year’s city council candidates. Thanks for the weekly material!

Cynthia Mathews: You did it again! Congratulations. You’re a glutton for punishment here but at least I know we’re in pretty good hands. You’re nothing if not predictable. And right now given the national identity crisis, predictable is a good thing.

Martine Watkins: You were my first endorsement and I think you’ll do a fine job. Congratulations! You have a good, solid group of folks to work with here. Please keep public safety high on your list of priorities. And please make Martin Bernal and his staff more accountable to you and the rest of the city council. You are his boss now. Please act that way. 

Robert Singleton: It was really close at the end, and you ended up beating JM Brown by a mere 47 votes. Congratulations! You ran a clean campaign focused on the issues. You might be the best hope we have for a real chance at new pragmatic leadership. You too have a good, solid group of folks to work with here. Please keep public safety high on your list of priorities. And please make Martin Bernal and his staff more accountable to you and the rest of the city council. You are his boss now. Please act that way. 

Chris Krohn: I had written you off as a blast from the past, phony old relic, but like Donald Trump you pulled off a late surge to surprise me (and many others). Congratulations! I still think my image of you rings true, but I underestimated your ability to fleece a bunch of old progressives with your pulpit pandering. Good luck! You’ll need it. I’m sure Yoko will be following every critical word spoken about you on social media. 

JM Brown: 5th place in a 4 person race sucks. Sorry dude. I know you raised the most money of anyone here, but like the real Yoko’s better half once said, “money can’t buy me love“. Props for also running a clean campaign. Maybe too clean. It just felt like you tried too hard to please everyone and that probably made everyone less than pleased. I also truly think you suffered from the “Brown Effect”, of having the same last name as the person who came in right below you, despite doing NOTHING to earn it. Maybe in 2 years. Learn from your mistakes. Focus more on public safety next time. 

Sandy Brown: Wow. You did much better than I expected. Helps to have the same last name as JM. People are dumb and easily confused (see Prop 57). All you did was bring your out of the area union connections and money, and that’s what appealed to the “brand new council” to bring you along and carry you. Adios. I doubt we’ll ever hear from you again. 

Steve Schnaar: I thought you’d do much better here. Personally, I actually had you cracking the top 4 instead of Krohn. I was wrong of course. Not sure why you didn’t pull more progressive votes. You and Glover should have beaten Krohn. I guess it could have been some of the skeletons in your closet but that kind of thing didn’t hurt Trump. I doubt it hurt you with progressives. 

Drew Glover: I kind of predicted your fade after your mom died, mostly because you had bigger things to deal with on a personal level and that timing hurt your chances to win (since you were in Washington and off the public radar). You did pretty well for a first time campaign. I know you made a lot of my friends nervous. I’d call your loss a blessing in disguise for everyone. 

Steve Pleich: Speaking of someone who’s a glutton for punishment, it might be time for everyone’s favorite local political masochist to call it a career of running here. Even tossing your handful of supporters over to the Clowncil couldn’t get them over the hump. They were the tail and you as usual are the dog being wagged. Just stop already. 

Nate Kennedy: You pulled over a thousand votes! That’s what happens when your last name is “Kennedy” and you have the benefit of being listed near the top of the list. All those folks that just blindly voted the first 4 names? You got their vote! Congratulations! And props for not finishing last! That honor (or dishonor) goes to….

Jim Davis: You brought the color! And the hat! And the black eye! And the no bullshit voice that was needed among all the pandering bullshit that was being dispensed at each forum. There’s always a special place in Santa Cruz for characters like you (and I don’t mean the short bus). Call me the breeze! I keep blowing down the road….

Seriously, props to all of you. I know I’ve been pretty mean and snarky towards all of you the past few months. You’ve been good sports about it. Best of luck either serving the community on the city council, or whatever you have planned next. 

Shit Happens

yup

Sometimes shit happens too literally. I have to keep reminding myself sometimes that I live in a bubble. California is a bubble when you look at conventional wisdom in this country. We are an outlier. A big one yes, but what this election tells me is that we don’t have a clue how the rest of the country thinks, and we sure as hell can’t depend on the mainstream media to inform us here. It’s one thing to drink the Kool-Aid on social media. But this kind of vote validates the soft, white, ugly underbelly of this country. And it’s one hell of a gut. We gave the the world the Kardashians. We own reality TV. Trump is just an extension of what we as a society have become in America. We own disposable conspicuous consumption. We own conspiracy theories. And all of that just manifested itself in the next President of the United States. 

Community Protests Trump Presidency by Marching on Pacific Avenue

In maybe the most predictable news item of the week, hundreds of folks gathered and marched along Pacific Avenue Wednesday night protesting the election of Donald Trump. I have no idea what they hoped to accomplish beyond being seen on the 11PM news. Lauren Seaver of KSBW posted a video of her walking in the group and she looked slightly terrified. But I think it was pretty peaceful from what I heard. I heard crowd estimates of about a hundred people, maybe slightly more. Seemed like lots of kids from UCSC at their first protest. They seemed to be having way too much fun being disruptive “anarchist lite” to be angry and upset. 

Missing Woman and Infant Found In Southern California

A woman and her child who recently went missing from Santa Cruz were found and located in southern California on Wednesday. Both were safe. The mother was taken into custody and custody arrangements for the infant were being worked out with the family. 

Is it Time For Laura’s Law in Santa Cruz?

There’s been a growing groundswell of support to bring Laura’s Law to Santa Cruz county. Local public safety watchdog group Take Back Santa Cruz recently put together some compelling research on this subject, which got the attention of the Senile and the Board of Supervisors. The Senile did a nice article on it. I doubt the Board of Supervisors will give it anything more than lip service. 

Laura’s Law is a California state law that allows for court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment. To qualify for the program, the person must have a serious mental illness plus a recent history of psychiatric hospitalizations, jailings or acts, threats or attempts of serious violent behavior towards themselves or others. The law was named after Laura Wilcox, a mental health worker who was killed by a man who had refused psychiatric treatment. It was introduced as Assembly Bill 1421 by Assemblywoman Helen Thomson, a Democrat from Davis. The measure passed the California Legislature in 2002 and was signed into law by Governor Gray Davis. The statute can only be utilized in counties that choose to enact outpatient commitment programs based on the measure. Since Proposition 63 in 2004, Los Angeles County, Nevada County, Orange County, Placer County, San Diego County, Yolo County, Contra Costa County, the City and County of San Francisco, Ventura County, San Luis Obispo County, and Mendocino County have approved implementation of Laura’s Law. Passage of the bill was supported by organizations such as the California Treatment Advocacy Coalition (an affiliate of the Treatment Advocacy Center), the California Psychiatric Association, the Police Chiefs Association, Mental Illness Policy Org. and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

UCSC Student Hit By Car Passes Away

If you haven’t heard yet, the UCSC student that was hit by an SUV on Highway 1 between River and Mission streets recently passed away from her injuries. She was 20 years old. Very sad to hear this. Friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help the family out. Monday night KSBW announced there was an arrest made in the case. 

Body Recovered From Mitchell’s Cove 

A man’s body was recovered from Mitchell’s Cove off West Cliff Drive on Wednesday afternoon around 4PM. First responders found the man in the surf line and a rescue swimmer helped to retrieve the body. Rescuers also used a personal watercraft to retrieve the body. SCPD is investigating. 

3 Car Accident Snarls Traffic on West Side

A 3 car accident on Mission and Swift snarled traffic on Monday night around 6:30PM. Traffic was rerouted around the area while fire and rescue did their thing. I don’t think anyone was seriously hurt, but apparently airbags were deployed so they probably needed at least a couple tow trucks. 

Hit and Run Accident on Soquel

There was an apparent hit and run accident on Soquel avenue Thursday night around 6:30PM. SCPD shut down Soquel from Water to Morrissey while they investigated it. What I heard was there was a male victim, who was hurt badly enough they had to fly him over the hill. A number of folks contacted me and said the victim may have been a transient who appeared to be inebriated and walking in and out of traffic. 

2 People Beaten at St. Josephs Church on West Cliff

Thursday night around 9:30PM, a call came in that a man was being beaten with a stick in front of St. Josephs church on West Cliff drive. Multiple units responded and located 2 victims in a car, a man and a woman, one who was found unconscious. Despite a number of witnesses, the victims and witnesses all refused to cooperate with SCPD. Sounds like it could have been a bum fight. Transients love to camp along Pelton next to that church. The car the victims were found in had Arkansas plates. 

Motorized Bicycle Leads SCPD on Chase Through Downtown

Some guy on a motorized bicycle led SCPD on a chase through downtown Santa Cruz Thursday night. Numerous units responded with lights and sirens, as he ducked in and out of various alleys around Walnut and Chestnut. The guy, described as a Hispanic male in a plaid shirt, took off the wrong way down Pacific and cut through the Metro station with cops in pursuit. SCPD finally gave up when the chase turned too dangerous given the number of pedestrians on scene. 

AAMCO Coming to Ocean Street

In what might be some of the most welcoming news Upper Ocean neighbors have heard in some time, it was announced recently that a new AAMCO transmission repair shop will be taking over the long closed, long neglected space at 1218 Ocean (at Glenwood) where Midas Mufflers used to be. Midas closed its doors a number of years ago resulting in ongoing code enforcement efforts by City staff relating to general blight, trash and debris, weeds, graffiti and nuisance trespass. 

New Wine Tasting Space Coming to Church Street

The city recently approved a permit for Birichino Wines, a new wine tasting space to open at 204 Church street, formerly occupied by Pure Pleasure. The space will be run by Bonny Doon Vintners Alex Krause and John Locke, and will provide an opportunity for patrons to taste the products and purchase bottles of wine for consumption off site.

Bulky Item Pick Up Day!

Every year the city designates one day “Bulky Item Pick Up Day”, when you can get rid of those big bulky items for feee, if you’re a city resident and you haver those little tags the city sends out every year. Otherwise, you’d have to pay a fee at Dimeo (and haul it there yourself). But you have to call in advance and make an appointment. This year, pickup day is November 19th, and you have to make an appointment by 5PM on November 17th. The number to call is 420-5220.

Bring On The Crab!

stagnarosDungeness Crab season is open. It’s been a long wait. We missed all of last year. Having fresh crab for Thanksgiving is kind of a Santa Cruz tradition for many locals. Turkey is so cliche. I know lots of folks like to get their crab off the boat at the harbor, but since I live close enough to the wharf, I usually just buy mine live from Stagnaro’s Brothers. Their prices in season are pretty good, and I can pick which live crabs I want. Then I usually crack and clean them at home, and steam them in a mixture of Old Bay. I’m kind of salivating just thinking about it. 

Santa Cruz Warriors Season Starts Tomorrow at Kaiser Arena

Our favorite local sports team, the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA’s Development League, is back in action at the Kaiser Arena tomorrow night! The take on the Los Angeles D-Fenders at 7PM. Tickets might still be available here.

Guerreros

ernie_1968_4x5_72dpiby Ernie Douglas
Well, The GS Warriors got spanked by the Lakers last Friday. I didn’t see that one coming. Then they struggled to put away the Pelicans, despite Curry setting a single game NBA record for 3 point shots made and scoring 46 points. They still gave up 106 points to an 0-6 team. Calling Ron Adams! Klay is still in a shooting slump. I’m sure it will eventually end, but he should focus on getting easier shots (and his defense). They took on Dallas (and old friends Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut) on Wednesday night. I miss Bogut. Dallas rested most of it’s starters and the Warriors blew them out. The Curry brothers faced off against each other so at times it got personal. Klay seemed to finally bust out of his slump. McCaw is back in the rotation after missing a few games with an injury. GSW flew to Denver to play the Nuggets and beat them up pretty good. The Javelevator was beasting! I’ve been barking to friends how this guy is gonna be the steal of the year. Just needs the right system and he’s found it here. He’s Eliza Doolittle and Kerr is Henry Higgins here. He’ll be ready by the post season. He’s the X factor. 

Upcoming games this week: 11/13 Phoenix, 11/16 Toronto, 11/18 Boston

Santa Cruz Warriors:
Upcoming games this week: 11/12 Los Angeles, 11/16 Iowa, 11/18 Rio Grande. All 3 games are at Kaiser. Tickets might be available online here.

Weekly Shoutouts

Weekly shoutouts to all the city council candidate losers. Points and respect for trying. And shoutouts to all my friends and the people I know who worked so hard on the JM Brown, Mathews, Singleton, and Watkins campaigns. You’re all extremely passionate, dedicated individuals and I thank you for caring so much about Santa Cruz. More power to you folks. Keep the faith. Shoutout to KL because you know, it’s 11/11. 

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I can’t say this enough, but thanks to all of you for reading, sharing, and mostly digging the Weekly Dump. We’ve definitely hit a nerve here locally. That’s a good thing. So I have a small, simple request from everyone here. If you like the Weekly Dump, tell one friend about it who you might think would enjoy it each Friday. If you’re a subscriber (and get the Dump delivered each week by email), just forward it to a friend. A friends list is even better! And if you just happen to be a casual drop in reader each week, please share a link with someone you think would enjoy the Dump each week. We can exponentially take this to another level and change the narrative in this town. But I need your help to do it. Thanks and keep reading!

18 Comments

  1. Knot Rilly Dunn

    It is a drag about Trump. But you know, one egotistical power-hungry liar had to win.

    It is kind of ironic that the anti-establishment voters were Republicans who voted for Trump. It is the Democrats who are the rebels normally.

    Santa Cruz is no fun. I’m going to to drive to Portland where I can throw stuff at cops and break stuff in the name of protest. And smash some cars of Trump voters…or Hilary voters, there’s no way to tell in the dark. It is worth the drive as long as I get to have fun and wreck stuff like they are.

    Kron won. I’m going to go set a few cars on fire in protest. Though one egotistical power-hungry turkey had to win.

    • It is telling that each candidate only got 25% of the eligible vote, and half the country hated both so much they just said no. Whether that’s a reflection of the individual or more a general apathy for government and politicians in general (they lie? you don’t say!), who knows. It’s deep. It’s divisive. It’s here. I think a lot of the anti establishment Republicans who voted for Trump are turnkey Democrats who gave up on the party. States like Ohio, Michigan, the unions should own that vote and deliver it Democrat. Nope. It’s too much “what have you done for me lately” in the blue collar midwest. Our protest last night was pretty peaceful (thank God!) but we have sooo many other things we need to protest about so get in line Trump haters. As for Krohn, Yoko’s gonna hate having me troll him for the next 4 years. Thanks for reading and commenting!

  2. Johnny at the Harbor

    The voters have spoken!!!! Those that lost need to pull up their panties and carry on with their lives. Please dont destroy property, block citizens from going about their lives and most important respect the process of the election. And for those Bernie supporter’s, the DNC cheated you out of the money, time, support and emotions. You deserved better than that. Trumps not going anywhere, deal with it.

  3. Speaking of blocking citizens from their lives, it’s 5:30 Friday afternoon and about 200 UCSC students are marching down High st.——-blocking the street. Chanting “citizens united will never be divided”, waving Mexican flags.
    That should win some folks over to their side.

  4. Krohn is a nightmare of progressive past. A tough week- Dump Trump. I was downtown at the protest and although angry no one was scary or violent. We did not choose this orange clown.

    • It sounds like much of the same tonight. It’s just taxing an already overextended SCPD on a typical loony Friday night in Santa Cruz. But I understand people need to vent. Thanks for reading and commenting!

  5. I don’t know why you people have a problem with people protesting. It’s their right. I haven’t heard of any problems they are causing. Trump has to be one of the worst presidents ever; because he’s not for all the people. With all the hatred he spewed, it’s okay to voice displeasure. Protest is an immediate way to let many know you’re not okay with the result.
    Also, there’s a bit here about a missing mom and child found in southern California. Do you mean the mom who ABDUCTED her child from Harvey West Park?

    • I don’t have a problem with people protesting. I have a problem with stupid people protesting. We have a lot of that here. What are they actually protesting here? Losing? What did this protest actually accomplish other than overextending public safety resources locally? Maybe you think money grows on giant trees here, and we have unlimited resources to deal with it. There were calls all over Santa Cruz that were delayed significantly because a bunch of UCSC students decided to have a “pity parade”. Get over it. As for the mom, there are apparently some issues with the custody arrangements with BOTH parents here. I’m not defending her actions, just that the story is still evolving and not all the information has been shared with the public (as usual). And when you say Trump’s not for “all the people”. So Clinton is? Both of them got 25% of the popular vote. 25% is not a mandate. It’s a minority opinion. Neither candidate was for “all the people”.

  6. Nothing wrong with people protesting, in fact it can be a good thing.
    But they aren’t at the town clock, post office, city hall or any public venue where their message would be highly visible and heard………….without having hugely disrupted many peoples lives.
    Let me paint a picture for you: You left your driveway at 6 :30 a.m.( just like you do every weekday) so you could do “the commute” over the hill to your job in silicon valley/bay area and get to work on time. Yippee! Today is Friday, and you take off work a half hour early to try and beat the traffic back home (because Friday night traffic coming over the hill to Santa Cruz can be brutal). Need to be on time tonight because you’re taking the wife out to celebrate your wedding anniversary. Have to shower, dress, pick up the babysitter for the kids, get to that very popular Italian restaurant on time for your dinner reservation. So now you’re on the “home stretch”, you’ve hit High st. and you’re on your way home to Bonny Doon. It’s 5:30 p.m., you have 11 hours into your workday so far….about average….but holy mierda! Hit the brakes! There’s a bunch of Angry people blocking the street, shouting, waving mexican flags, and coming right at you! Am I going to die? They going to beat the Mierda out of me and my car (like these same caliber of protestors having been doing in other cities for days now). After they have passed, you feel truly blessed that they didn’t wreck your car or kill you. And that takes some of the sting out of being a half hour late for your evening. The wife will forgive you, the babysitters still going to watch your kids, if that REALLY EXCELLENT Italian restaurant (that you have always wanted to go to) gave away your reservation to somebody else, you still won’t starve to death.
    Or this picture: You’ve always loved being a self-employed contractor. Sure, it’s hard work and the hours are pretty long but it still beats a 9-5 job. Anyways, it’s Friday! and you had to work a couple extra hours today to get that job wrapped up but if was worth it because you got the final payment from your client, which takes a lot of stress off you.
    Bills are going to get paid! That monthly health care ins. bill is due in a couple of days, and thank God I won’t have to worry about that for another month. But wait! What the Mierda? What are these idiots doing in the middle of the road in the dark? Come on guys, it’s been a long week and I just want to get home to my family and eat some dinner! Nope. They’re not going to move aside and let you through, you just have to wait. and wait. and wait.
    And they’re waving mexican flags at you! Which just pisses you off. Makes you think about how you used to have really good health ins. for your family for about $1000/month. Then came Obama care and now you have to pay over $2500/month (more than your MORTGAGE payment!) and spend $6000 out of your own pocket before your ins. kicks in a dime. Because you have to subsidize the health ins. for these idiots in the street who pay practically nothing.
    So, go ahead and protest. Just be respectful of other peoples lives.

  7. Arthur Macmillan

    Ben says (said)
    November 11, 2016 at 6:52 am

    “It is telling that each candidate only got 25% of the eligible vote, and half the country hated both so much they just said no. Whether that’s a reflection of the individual or more a general apathy for government and politicians in general (they lie? you don’t say!).”

    Speaking for myself, I would substitute “intense hatred” for “general apathy”. IMHO there are large segments of the population that have no clue how deeply politicians to name just one group are hated. We have already performed Bastille Day without having to lift a finger. We voted for our Bastille Day. Now we await Part II, the beheadings.

    • Hating national politicians is so overrated. What have they done for me lately? How do they effect my daily life? Nothing and they don’t. Focus on things you can change or effect. Protesting Trump winning? Meh. It’s jumped the shark already when you’ve got smiling UCSC students posing for selfies while blocking Pacific.

      • Arthur Macmillan

        My point was not to sell hating politicians.

        You say, “How do they effect my daily life?” “What have they done for me lately?”

        I don’t think it is apathy if even a person who tries to rally people to vote admits that who ever wins or looses makes very little difference to our lives. Maybe we agree except on the semantics. Whether it is hate or apathy that describes the fact that we really have no say in our government, accept at the local level. And even then the local governments have to answer to “Coastal Commissions”, county, state, federal regulations, and a totalitarian judicial systems that imposes its will on top of that.

        If I were to agree with your statements above, we would both be saying that it is not apathy that is responsible for not voting, it is simply that there was nothing to be accomplished. It’s not really hatred either. Pragmatism, maybe?

        What I call pathetic is the mental image of smug students taking selfies of their Trump protest while simultaneously interfering with people trying to get on with their lives! I wonder if those same students also took selfies of themselves voting?

  8. 9/11 (2001) worst day ever..
    11/09/ (2016) waking up to a President Trump ?

    • I think I’m still in denial. Giuliani as Sec. of State? GTFO. What’s next? Chris Christie on the Supreme Court?

      • Arthur Macmillan

        So the same guy that suggested that black parents need to talk to their kids about getting themselves shot by cops is going to represent the United States in foreign affairs? I hope ISIS is half as scared as I am!

  9. James Burtnett

    All I’d like to say is thank you to all the Trumpacrats!
    We did well! Love&Peace

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