The Weekly Dump 1.19.18

The Inmates Think They Run the Asylum

Tuesday afternoon, there was a pretty serious incident at the Santa Cruz County Main Jail, as inmates refused to follow orders from the guards, armed themselves with makeshift weapons, and used mattresses to barricade their cells. Deputies say it was a minefield of booby traps. Bedsheets were tied across the railing to act as tripwires, soapy water was thrown on the floor to create a slipping hazard, mattresses were used to block access to the stairs and windows were smashed. Officers, dressed in riot gear, entered the jail and used stingball devices filled with rubber pellets, along with bean bag rounds. None of the inmates or Sheriff’s Office staff suffered any serious injuries.

This was part of an inmate protest about the jail being too cold. Is anyone really in jail long enough in Santa Cruz to complain about the conditions? Maybe if some of our frequent flyers on the County Shuffle hate the jail conditions so much they should try something different? Like staying out of jail. And this is jail! It’s not the Dream Inn. It’s not like people are dying in the jail. Oh wait. Never mind. If I had to sleep in a 70 degree house with the “blanket” equivalent of a flannel sheet, I’d probably be pretty pissed too. So pissed that when I got out I’d make sure I stayed out. But I’m glad this ended without anyone getting hurt, although I doubt anyone got any extra blankets.

The Field of Broken Dreams Plods On Another Week

Is anyone really surprised? First we were told it would be gone by the “middle of December”. Then it was the end of December. Then it was the middle of January. Now it’s “as soon as possible”. Camp Coonerty is still there, still polluting San Lorenzo Park and the San Lorenzo River, as well as the Monterey Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The city likes to proudly proclaim the river to be a shining jewel of downtown while it treats it like a toilet. The city has shat all over it’s relationship here with the Coastal Watershed Council, the local stewards of the river and the levee downtown. The environmental damage to the river and levee is done, it’s continuing on a daily basis, and this is happening with the tacit approval of the city council, who has the ultimate authority over what the city manager or the chief of police can do. They have the power to fire them, they have the power to tell them what to do here. The tail keeps wagging the dog.

This is the future of Santa Cruz, if our city council (and city manager and chief of police) are allowed to continue with their “plan”.

California’s Homeless Problem

It’s time to demand more from your city’s “leaders” here. Before the “Riverwalk” turns into the “Riversquat” like it has in Anaheim. We see the same types of makeshift camps all over town already. This is what giving up looks like.

This is What Happens When You’re Not Nice to ICE

People around the Bay Area are starting to freak out over credible rumors that ICE are preparing for a major sweep in the Bay Area, targeting Northern California cities who have declared themselves to be “Sanctuary Cities”. Federal immigration officers aim to arrest as many as 1,500 undocumented people. Many people believe the Trump administration is trying to send a message that immigration policy will be enforced regardless of any “sanctuary” status. The sweep could happen within weeks, and is expected to become the biggest enforcement action of its kind under President Trump according to a source familiar with the operation. Earlier this month, Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan told Fox News that “California better hold on tight.” He said that if local politicians “don’t want to protect their communities, then ICE will.” The reported sweep could last more than one day and will include enforcement of worksites suspected of illegally employing undocumented immigrants, and will involve immigration officers from other parts of the country who are being flown in to assist with the operation. More on this story here.

I heard from a local friend who manages HUD properties in San Jose and she told me she received instructions today for when (not if) they come. I haven’t heard anything specific about Santa Cruz but that makes sense since the city doesn’t want to cooperate with ICE, we get no heads up when they show up here. Is that really the best policy? That’s the price we pay for compromising our public safety in the name of pandering and “sanctuary city” proclamations that have no legal merit, and only serve to make Santa Cruz a target for overzealous federal enforcement operations from ICE. It’s like we paint a big bullseye on our back in order to feel good about ourselves. Unfortunately, sometimes the people that pay the heaviest price for this feel good policy are the people who want as little attention as possible.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving

Normally I wouldn’t waste my time or space here talking about local homeless advocate and anarchist lite gadfly Brent Adams. I usually just write him off as a good hearted, benevolent, mostly harmless, low level grifter. He’s good at tugging local progressive heart strings with his well intentioned but always ill advised, impractical ideas related to the local homeless. What he’s really good at is making himself the center of attention. But normally he’s pretty far off my radar as I usually just tune him out. This week he’s been all over the news so it’s pretty hard to avoid him.

So I have a few things to say about this story, as well as a few questions about it. Was the man “discharged” or was he kicked out of the hospital for being abusive to the staff there? When did Dominican become a homeless shelter? When did sheltering this homeless man become Dominican’s responsibility and not a county responsibility? How is it that a bus couldn’t drag him downtown (or wherever he wanted to go) but a county employee from the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s office could drag him and his stuff downtown, where Brent could film his story? Why the hell is the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s office calling Brent Adams to deal with their responsibilities and problems here? This isn’t patient dumping by Dominican. It’s another story about a homeless person being “dumped” at Dominican by the county (probably by SCPD or a Sheriff’s deputy), being treated by Dominican (or maybe refusing treatment) and being discharged like any other patient at Dominican. It happens multiple times every single day. Get mad at the county for “patient dumping” here. The appalling lack of mental health and substance abuse options by county health services results in stuff like this happening daily. Dominican is a business. The county is responsible for homeless social services.

Adams obviously used this opportunity for personal attention by making a video of the man downtown and pimping it out to the mainstream media. I know what most people who know Brent Adams are probably thinking. Why should we believe anything he says? I can’t fault Brent’s good intentions. I honestly believe he cares. He walks the walk on the homeless issue locally. The problem is he likes to talk the talk more, which irritates his critics and advocates alike. He’s a progressive, know it all narcissist whose mouth always gets in the way of any kind of real success.

I’ve heard a number of stories since this story “broke” (and it is broken alright) about the victim here. I’ve heard from a number of people who personally know the “victim”, who is apparently homeless but he’s also been described by them as an angry, abusive, belligerent man who is known to refuse help and verbally assault those who have tried to help him. I also heard from a bus driver who is very familiar with the man, and reaffirms his aggressive, angry, abusive behavior. Was any of this brought up or questioned or confirmed in Adam’s story? Of course not. In all probability, the man was taken to Dominican by the county (because this is how the county deals with mental health and substance abuse problems), he got angry and abusive to hospital staff, and he was kicked out of the hospital for his bad behavior. Does Brent Adams bring any of this up in his one sided, biased, poor victim video? Of course not. The guy has zero credibility. He’s the local patron of “fake news” locally.

And just to further illustrate that looks can be deceiving here, I heard through the grapevine the real reason he didn’t get the service contract with the city of Santa Cruz to be the Camp Coonerty “Storage Bin Coordinator” (or whatever he would be doing) is because he was rude and belligerent to members of the local Downtown Street Team, barking out orders to them and basically insulting the group. Word got back to City Hall about it and Brent was toast as far as they were concerned. So here we have a great group of homeless volunteers, picking up trash downtown, and Brent is out there insulting them. Appearances can be deceiving.

Another Overdose in Downtown Parking Garage Bathroom

Thursday morning around 11:30AM, a report came in about an overdosed victim laying on the floor of the bathroom at the downtown parking garage at Front and Soquel. SCPD and fire and medics responded to find a male with a needle in his arm breathing but unresponsive. And the city wonders why people don’t like shopping downtown? And people wonder why we don’t have enough public bathrooms open 24/7? And I say this is just another indication of why we can’t have nice things in Santa Cruz. And within 15 minutes of this report, another one comes in for an overdose along the railroad tracks on Coral street. Yeah, right next to the Homeless Services Center.

Burning Truck in Walgreens Parking Lot Causes Evacuation

Firefighters from the Santa Cruz Fire Department had to evacuate the Walgreens on Front and Laurel streets in downtown Santa Cruz around 11AM on Monday morning after a parked truck caught fire in their parking lot, sending flames and thick black smoke billowing into the air. When they arrived on scene, they found a black pickup truck completely engulfed in flames parked almost directly in front of the entrance to the store. Two engines responded to the scene and firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the blaze without any injuries or other damage to nearby property.

Surfer Rescued at Steamer Lane

A surfer was rescued near the Steamer Lane lighthouse by another surfer Monday at Steamer Lane after he lost his board and was pushed against the cliffs, where overhead waves pummeled him until he could be rescued. Fire and rescue responded to an ocean rescue call to the area of West Cliff Drive near the Lighthouse about 10:30AM. Two fire engines, an ambulance and other emergency vehicles responded as well as rescuers in wet suits, but the man was already ashore by the time emergency crews arrived on scene.

Someone Needs to Switch to Decaf

Wednesday morning around 9AM, a report came in about a road rage incident at the Fish Hook involving someone being beaten with a baseball bat. Now that’s rage! In an apparent fit of road rage, a 26 year old Watsonville man hit a 42 year old Santa Cruz man in the head with a bat on the side of northbound Highway 1 at the Fish Hook, according to a CHP report. The “batter” has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon and driving with a suspended license. The suspect was driving north on Highway 1 in a 2001 Ford Ranger when a 2015 Nissan Altima veered into his lane and the two vehicles stopped on the shoulder of the highway. The suspect confronted the victim with a baseball bat hidden behind his back and proceeded to strike the victim in the head. The victim defended himself by punching back and officers were at the scene within a few minutes. The victim was “bleeding profusely” and had to have staples in his head, according to the CHP. The suspect was at Santa Cruz County Jail on Wednesday night. His bail was set at $25,000. I’m just shaking my head at $25,000 bail for felony assault with a deadly weapon. Beat a stranger in the head with a bat. I’d call that a pretty violent felony. Throw a few angry, idle threats at a well connected county supervisor and they set your bail at $110,000. Beat a stranger in the head with baseball bat and it’s a measly $25K. Go figure.

Asleep at the Wheel

Monday night around 10:30PM, I heard a report about a man who was apparently asleep in his car, while it was running and he was in the drive through lane at the Jack in the Box on Ocean street. He reportedly woke up while the employee was on the line with SCPD, and the witness reported they thought the man was probably drunk. I guess it’s better that SCPD nails this guy with a DUI while he’s stuck in the drive through lane instead of out on the road somewhere. Except by the time they got there he was gone.

Home Burns Down in Boulder Creek

Monday morning,  Santa Cruz County fire crews responded to an early morning house fire on Mitchell Drive in Boulder Creek. No injuries were reported, but the the home is considered a complete loss and one person was displaced as a result of the fire.

Saturday Morning Fight at Safeway on Morrissey

Saturday morning around 8:30AM brought a disturbance at the Safeway on Morrissey. Witnesses said the fight started after a Safeway employee told someone outside the store to turn down their loud music. That’s when someone got literally knocked out, with the aggressor in the fight apparently knocked unconscious.  SCPD sent multiple units sent to the scene.

This is Probation in Santa Cruz

A Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputy conducted a business check recently in Aptos and found a man on probation in possession of drugs, money, and several watches. A probation search revealed that the man was in possession of methamphetamine, a digital scale, drug packaging, and cash. I’d say he’s checking all the boxes here that led to the decision to release him early and give him a free pass to continue to plague the community with his illegal activities. The man was later booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail for being in possession of a controlled substance for sale. No probation violation? I’m starting to think “probation violation” is an oxymoron.

Stolen Vehicles Recovered After Suspect Eludes Sheriff’s Deputies

Last Thursday, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies were out on patrol on the 1200 block of Buzzard Lagoon Road when they noticed a man driving a Ford F350 truck they suspected to be stolen. After pulling the 30 year old Santa Cruz man over, he initially stopped and talked to the deputies but then sped away. This led deputies on a short high speed chase allowing the suspect to successfully elude them. While searching for the suspect, deputies located a second stolen vehicle on Grizzly Flat Road. This discovery led them to the suspect’s residence on the 300 block of Loma Escondida Road, where 5 additional stolen vehicles were located including the Ford F350 truck the suspect originally fled in. The problem was the suspect wasn’t there. Then last Friday, investigators with the Santa Cruz Auto Theft Reduction Task Force (SCARE) as well as the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Office returned to the suspect’s residence with a search warrant to recover the remaining stolen cars. Investigators recovered three stolen trucks, two trailers, one box truck and a BOBCAT tractor from the suspect’s residence.

Public Storage Does Not Mean Public Parking

Friday night around 6:30PM, a report came in about a disturbance at the Public Storage on River street. Apparently, 2 people were living in an RV on the lot and threatening other patrons of the business. I know most public storage places are usually gated, but I’m pretty sure this particular business is not gated.

Women’s March Downtown This Saturday

The march titled ‘Be The Change’ will begin at Pacific Ave. and Water St. and will culminate in an activist fair at Louden Nelson Center featuring groups like Planned Parenthood, ACLU, Diversity Center, and others. Art, music, speakers, food and fun will be staged during the event at Louden Nelson. Last year’s march was huge and lots of fun so check it out this year!

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22 Comments

  1. My first thought for the reason Brainchild Brent would be so rude and belligerent, is that he’s got virtually no work experience or jobskills, despite the fact that he’s in his 50’s. A failed-to-launch loser, who unlike Robert Kahnjob, hasn’t got a big Trustfund to support his useless existence. He’s a career couchsurfer/moocher. A normal person would have some sort of experience in how to coordinate efforts towards a common goal.But Asshat Adams hasn’t figured out why he “Doesn’t play well with others”. But give him a tiny strand of credit; unlike Robert, he does do more than make ludicrous demands on other people, while refusing to contribute or help anyone.

    • Ben.
      Thanks for the reports BUT
      Have you walked through our ‘free river side campground? ‘. This is not ICE territory. Don’t confuse&blame sanctuary status with a huge social/cultural/political /economic condition. ICE is after individuals and families at work and in homes. Our government will not sweep the camps throughout the state and country because it is not after the fallout and consequences of Governor Reagan’s tax cuts which closed down social services and dumped people into the streets.
      Our government is after brown, foreign speaking ‘aliens’

      • Thanks for reading and commenting Robert. I would agree with you that ICE isn’t really interested in Camp Coonerty (or the people in it). They usually work off of warrants, and I doubt any of their warrants list “4B, San Lorenzo Park”. I’m guessing their warrants are usually based off of some kind of intel, not from SCPD. No matter how people want to conflate their presence here, their primary focus locally is on gangs, and stopping criminal behavior. The kind of stuff we can’t rely on our local law enforcement to be proactive about for fear of looking as if they are “targeting” anything other than criminal activity. Usually, these warrants involve locations where people who engage in criminal behavior reside or “hang out”. Sometimes, there are innocent bystanders and family members at these locations who get swept up in an arrest, just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That part is tragic and wrong. But getting gangs off the streets and trying to reduce the criminal behavior of local gangs, there’s nothing wrong with that. The fact we have “declared war” on ICE locally just means we’re left in the dark about what they plan to do. It has no impact on whether they do it.

  2. Wow! What a week. I feel lucky to have survived!

  3. So I’m a pretty light moderator but I’m asking everyone to please refrain from name calling and making stuff personal at people. My criticism of Brent is more about his actions and the story making the rounds in the news media lately. Thanks. I’m not Brent’s biggest fan and I’m not his biggest critic either. Normally, I couldn’t care less about him. But when he inserts himself into this week’s news like he has, he’s fair game for my snarky op/ed. Otherwise, he can go about his business and I probably wouldn’t notice. I think I expressed my overall opinion of him above so no need to rehash that. I will say that a part of me actually appreciates Brent blowing this story up, but he’s barking up the wrong tree here. He should be using this incident to highlight neglect from the county, not Dominican. I have no problem pointing out the county’s obvious culpability in all this.

  4. I tried to ask nicely about the name calling and making things personal. For those who can’t read or understand that, or refuse to play by my rules, your comments have been moderated. My site, my rules. Feel free to resubmit without the petty insults. I’m trying to make something bigger than that here. If that’s too hard to understand for anyone, enjoy being moderated.

  5. What a week ! So frustrating for all of us. We all have our thoughts about Brent. I sent a couple letters to the news stations that showed this story, have not heard anything back…hummm.
    Thank you, for always bringing the thoughts and feeling of so many of us!!

    • Thanks Paige. Many people locally have strong opinions about Brent both ways, but what I’m trying to avoid here is a personal pissing match between his critics and his friends. If we can keep any discussion about him “on point” to the point of discussion and not make it personal about him (or anyone else), I’m fine with that. There are plenty of other forums to just anonymously insult people you don’t like online. This is not gonna be one of those places. Thanks for sharing and commenting.

  6. Ironically, within the ‘article’, you engage in the same sorts of personal insults and name calling that you are (wisely) prohibiting in the comments. Grifter? LOL Narcissist? By definition, a narcissist couldn’t do what Brent does. Brent literally cleans shit off people. I don’t think a narcissist could do that. With respect to the video, it’s easy to confuse the articles and posts about the video with the video, itself. In fact, the video is pretty neutral. It’s not a hit-job on Dominican. Brents words in the post specifically state, “There are likely other sides to the story”. In the video, Brent explains its purpose, which is to make people aware that this is happening so that we, as a community, can get together to do something about it. Coincidentally, there was a story in the NY Times on the very same day about a incident in Baltimore. That is what (likely) caused the, ‘blitz’. It caught Brent by surprise. There was no “pimping it out to the mainstream media”. With respect to the contract and the incident with the streets team, I heard a very different story. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. Both our stories align on the fact that this contract was withheld without any real process, based on hearsay and/or an interpersonal conflict, unrelated to the actual project. This was after Brent had spent significant time, resources, and money out of his own pocket preparing. That said, the question that we, as a community, should be asking is, “Was the contract awarded to an organization that could do a better job in a more efficient manner?” We shouldn’t be awarding contracts based on who likes who and who said what about whom. All too often, that’s how taxpayer dollars get wasted. “Why the hell is the Santa Cruz Sheriff’s office calling Brent Adams to deal with their responsibilities and problems here?” Technically, they probably called the Warming Center, which is a 501c3 charitable organization. That said, your point is a good one, and there is nobody who would agree with you more than Brent, himself. His organization spends a wildly disproportionate amount of resources on a few serious cases that they are neither equipped nor trained to handle. You and he agree. This is the county’s responsibility. He doesn’t want it to be his. He steps up because nobody else will. On that latter point, if you think that Brent does this for recognition or fame, you are sorely mistaken. What you see is only a tiny percentage of what he does. He is out there every day distributing blankets, finding, and helping people who sleep outside. A few weeks ago he came across a naked man in a wheelchair and, literally, dressed this man. No video; no news report; just Brent helping. That all said, you do treat Brent better than some, and, yes, it’s true that he lets his passion get the better of him, sometimes. That’s true about a lot of people. What’s also true about Brent, though, is that he has come a long way towards improving himself in this area. One need look no further than his relationship with the police for evidence of this. If, five years ago, you had said that the Sheriff’s department would be working in conjunction with Brent 5 years hence, I don’t think a single person in town would have believed you. Finally, the next time you call someone out, personally, on your blog, I encourage you to give that person a call requesting their comments, beforehand, like a professional journalist would do. Peace.

    • I approved this comment mostly to show that I’m not above being criticized or called out if it’s done in a respectful way and it’s not personal. And no, I don’t think this was submitted by Brent, but by an obvious friend and supporter. Like I said earlier, I’m not going to let this become a love/hate Brent pissing match, so this balances out Tony’s comments and that’s fair and I’ll leave it at that. As for calling him a grifter and narcissist, I stand by that assessment. I’m not a “professional journalist”. That would imply I get paid for this. I’m a dude with a strong opinion. Anyone who doesn’t like it is free to not read it. Future comments about Brent that aren’t on point will be moderated. That goes both ways.

      • Hey Ben being the person with the “moderator commen” [that you deleted] for referring to Adams in language you already approved in Tony’s post, (asshat) and other language of your prior post which you said… “local homeless advocate and anarchist lite gadfly Brent Adams. I usually just write him off as a good hearted, benevolent, mostly harmless, low level grifter.”, I’d like to know what the difference between a grifter an asshat is? Other than you use one term and Tony and I used another. Anyway I hope you’re having a good year and keep up your good work.

        • This will be the last time I address this. I asked nicely for people to not make things personal and the very next comment after I asked nicely, you go and ignore my request and do exactly what I asked people not to do. You know what pisses me off more than people making shit personal here? People that ignore my nice requests and do exactly what I ask them not to do. And I posted this to show you did it again. There won’t be a 3rd time here. My site, my rules. If I want to insult someone, I don’t need anyone else’s permission. I could pull a Bratton and turn all comments off but I choose to allow comments. That means more work for me, moderating what people say. Moderating is a thankless, subjective job I don’t enjoy. If anyone forces my hand on moderating, future comments will all be moderated before going through. Thanks. I’m not singling anyone out here. This applies to everyone. Be respectful, stay on point, and we’ll have no problems. Break those rules and we will.

        • Look, I want to be clear I’m not singling you out here. I usually appreciate your comments and I always appreciate your support. What I’m trying to avoid here is an insult pissing match between Brent’s fans and critics. Calling someone a “grifter” is like saying someone isn’t trustworthy, is a con artist. It’s an actual noun. Same with “narcissist”. Calling someone an “asshat” means nothing. It’s just a made up insult. It’s considered “vulgar slang” by Merriam Webster to define “a stupid, annoying, or detestable person”. I’d call that an insult and making it personal. If I want to pollute my site’s content, that’s on me. But I’m not about to let others do it for me. I knew writing about Brent would ultimately trigger lots of Brent hate but it’s really not appropriate here to just insult him without context. It just brings the site down to a tolerance level I’m not comfortable with. Just keep it clean and on point and I’ll be happy.

  7. Why wasn’t the man in the wheelchair taken to the Homeless Services Center?

    • That’s a fair question to ask. I don’t think the HSC takes “walk ins” (or in his case “wheel ins”), given the fact they have a gate, with some sort of guard or attendant processing people. And technically, they’re no different then handing him off to Brent, since they are also a 501c3 non-profit under zero obligation to do anything. The county needs to be the lead here. They (the county) need to have some kind of mobile first response department ready to basically take the lead on ALL mental health and substance abuse calls that come in to ANY city or county public safety department. And someone at 911 services needs to have a process to triage these calls. This would reduce the number of service calls for SCPD and the Sheriff’s office, who currently act as the first responders for all of these calls now. Everyone needs to force the county’s hand here. They have the deepest pockets to deal with it, and it’s already a responsibility they’ve neglected for many years. Thanks Mabel.

  8. Regarding the Sheriff’s bus stop drop off, is this our county’s response for a distressed homeless person waiting at the bus stop? Shame on the county. If it was your grandmother, released from Dominican for whatever reason would you think it was right for a sworn protector to take her to a bus stop and drop her off in the care of someone who would wrap her in blankets and leave? This is a county fail and a county patient dump into the city. According to Adams’ video, Adams in his role as caregiver abandoned this person, who could have been your grandmother, too.
    The county needs to establish and fund a 24 hour emergency shelter somewhere on county property preferably away from the city. Our poor little City has enough county services what with the jail, the courts, the government center and County Health.
    Or here is another idea. The county can build a new jail with warm cells out in the middle of nowhere on cheap county owned land and then turn the downtown jail into a year round 24 hour homeless shelter/navigation center.

  9. As long as the County refuses to address adding “Laura’s Law” to its tools of mental health treatments, it can throw up its hands and walk away. The guy clearly could not take care of himself and evidently a danger of some sorts to himself. Clearly, the County should have invoked Laura’s Law to force him into treatment. Otherwise, everyone who tried to help him but was pushed away by irrational behavior on his part is UN-fair game for bad P.R.

  10. I’m sharing this link because I think it correlates to the discussion about the appalling lack of mental health treatment options available from the county. The man in the wheelchair is just one example of the repercussions of taking an apathetic approach to mental health treatment options at the county level.

    “The city and other local jurisdictions are experiencing a regional mental health crisis. At this time, we cannot support the MHSA plan as it is currently presented without a commitment by the county for an improved process of collaboration in determining how MHSA resources are utilized to address significant concerns, which exist in our city.” – Mayor David Terrazas

    This is basically the equivalent of a vote of “no confidence” in the Santa Cruz County Mental Health Advisory Board and how they dole out the funds the state provides for mental health treatment at the county level.

    http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/health/20180118/mental-health-services-act-funding-and-engagement-under-review-by-santa-cruz-county-committee

  11. I always like to check here for the real news not disclosed anywhere else. I’m wondering if anyone has info about the shooting on Sat Jan 20th on La Fonda at the low income Apts near the Harbor High baseball fields ? Heard streets shut down and a person shot in chest and suspects got away.

  12. I worked at Dominican Hospital for 21 years. the emergency staff is routinely harassed assaulted and insulted by the homeless people in Santa Cruz. I have been spit at, kicked at, and swung at for only trying to help someone in the emergency department. These people are almost always purposefully hard to deal with as if the hospital is responsible for all their bad decisions in life.
    In the winter these cretins know that if they claim To have chest pains we have to give them a room in the ER where they will get a bed and meals while we evaluate their claims.
    the junkies who have ruined their veins will come in to get an IV access – then walk out to abuse drugs! Three times I know of the same patients were back in hours- overdosed.
    meanwhile hard-working taxpaying citizens with real medical issues are put in beds in the ER hallways so the bums can takeover the few rooms available in ER With phony medical problems.
    I have no doubt the patient all the fuss was made over was unruly and abusive and yet still got professional standard of care. And it’s true, the local law enforcement officials do drop these patients at the hospital and leave the hospital to deal with the mess.what most of these people need is housing!!
    Either in mental facility, a training facility, temporary housing for those truly needing help and jail for those who are ruining our city.
    and we need to get ‘ NEW LOCAL GOVERNMENT’ officials to replace the worthless ones we have now who are largely responsible for Santa Cruz becoming a toilet. city Council and County Counsel.

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