December 2 

Winter of Our Content
Now, it is suddenly winter. The rain is here and we are so luxuriantly content, at least if it does not all fall at once. It certainly has been coming down. Nothing for months and then an avalanche of water. I’m loving it so far because it means the wildfire effect is minimized and things begin to turn green and greener. Life is a bit slower. Getting around is slightly impaired by all this water that is replenishing Loch Lomond Reservoir (that needed only a bit of replenishing), groundwater aquifers, and rainwater run-off systems are all revived. Lying in bed listening to the thud, thud, thudding of rain is so glorious that rest itself increases.

Politics of Water
The good news is we won’t be talking about drought for a while and the Fire Department just might get a deserved rest after fighting the blazes of autumn. The bad news is the Water Department infrastructure has to be maintained and Santa Cruzans have become so adept at conserving water, the same water that the system sells less of and therefore has to contemplate raising fees even with all this water around. We have entered a decade-long upgrade of city water infrastructure and over $100 million is planned to be spent on improving the system. So, water bills are not going down anytime soon.

March 3rd Primary
CA is in play! The California primary is now March 3rd and it could be a bell-weather state for Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, or Elizabeth Warren. It appears that Joe Biden has given up on the Golden State for now having chosen to skip two Democratic Party conventions this year. His handlers generally keep him away from any direct policy questions. Biden is likely banking on prevailing in two or three of the first primaries–New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada–building his Joe-mentum thing and then asking California voters: who has the best chance of beating Trump? Harris is not doing so well in state polls and is likely banking on second or third place finishes in Iowa and South Carolina in order to get some traction in CA. Pete Buttigieg is seeking to do an Obama and be so many things to so many people and it just might work. His resume–military, mayor of small American city, boy-genius– is still pretty slim. He’s probably thinking if only I was a billionaire…

Santa Cruz, March 3, 2019
There will be local issues too on the primary ballot, the Recall being most close-up and personal to me. How it got this far is quite the discussion, but how to run and defend my record while combating many of the lies told to petition-signers is what is now most important. Here is a three-parter, number one is my record, number two is a plan for the rest of this year, and number three, is a way to disseminate the facts from the fiction and ultimately create more openness and transparency in local government.

Record

• More general fund money went to projects and programs supporting kids, workers, and tenants than would have otherwise if the four-person majority had not been elected;
• The Service Employee International Union (SEIU) received one of their largest raises in years–10% over three years;
• All downtown employees now have access to free Metro bus passes;
• Kaiser-Permanente’s 13 doctors and their staff now have a home in downtown Santa Cruz at the Cooper House;
• Tenant Sanctuary received funding to work with struggling renters when they have disputes with landlords;
• This council recently passed the state’s rent control and just cause eviction legislation, several weeks earlier than it would have taken effect otherwise throughout the state
• on (Jan. 1);
• Two new pro-affordable housing Planning Commissioners were appointed by our majority;
• A climate emergency was passed;
• stopped the Corridors Plan and redirected staff’s work;
• Oral Communication was moved to the 7pm session so more residents could have access to the city council.

Plans for 2020

• Direct Economic Development and Planning staff to begin negotiating with non-profit housing providers to initiate affordable housing projects on three city-owned downtown parcels;
• Renovate the Downtown Library;
• Go forward with plans to acquire a much needed 24/7 emergency homeless shelter;
• Form a resident Climate and Bio-diversity Commission to help assist and plan for climate change;
• Bring together all city commissioners for a retreat on how commissions can integrate their work with each other, and with the city council;
• Continue working on Traffic Demand Management strategies to bring traffic relief to neighborhoods while offering alternatives to resident’s use of single-occupancy vehicles;
• And of course, BEAT this recall through vigorous discussion, debate, and information-sharing.

StopSantaCruzRecalls.org

This is a fact sheet prepared by the Stop Santa Cruz Recalls group. It is on their web site at stopsantacruzrecalls.org

The California Constitution does not provide a legal remedy for false claims in recall petitions. Hence the voters need to educate themselves about the facts. 

Allegation: “[Councilmembers Krohn and Glover] repeatedly voted against closing the Ross Camp, while failing to pursue legal, realistic, and humane solutions to homelessness in the City of Santa Cruz. By opposing the closure of the Ross Camp, he contradicted the recommendations of Fire Chief Hajduk and County Health Officer Leff, and endangered the health and safety of Santa Cruz residents, both housed and unhoused.”

Fact Check. 

Councilmembers Krohn and Glover:

• voted with the Council majority not to close Ross Camp until other locations were in place for residents to go.  When other locations were identified, the Ross Camp was closed. 
• sought increased health and safety measures at the Ross Camp pending its closure.

Allegation: “[Councilmembers Krohn and Glover] attempted to establish permanent RV parking sites and permanent homeless encampments in residential neighborhoods and city parks in Santa Cruz, without regard for public safety or potential damage to local businesses, and without consulting neighborhood residents, the Fire Department, or the Police Department.”

Fact Check: At Council request, City staff presented several possible alternative locations to shelter Ross camp residents.  Many members of the public expressed concerns about all the locations.  As a result, the Council, including Krohn and Glover, dropped consideration of all locations other than re-opening the Salvation Army camp on upper River St. 

Allegation: “Councilmember Krohn betrayed public trust and violated the Brown Act by requesting closed city council sessions to discuss relocation of the Ross Camp.” 

Fact Check: The minutes and video of the City Council meeting on April 23, 2019, record Councilmember Krohn voting against a motion to go into closed session to discuss the Ross Camp closure.

Allegation: “Council member Glover participated on behalf of the plaintiffs in a federal suit against the City to keep the Ross Camp open.  In a sworn declaration, Glover falsely claimed that there was no health and safety risk at the Ross Camp, contradicting the Fire Chief and County Health Officer.”

Fact Check

• Freedom of speech and public trust in government requires that elected officials be permitted to testify when called in a lawsuit, even when it is against their City.
• Glover did not deny health and safety risks at Ross Camp. He testified that those risks could be corrected in order to avoid dispersing hundreds of people back onto the streets and into parks and open spaces.

Allegation: “Councilmember Glover has introduced a culture of chaos, bullying and disruption to public meetings and general City business.”

“Councilmember Krohn… has failed to abide by the Rules of Procedure for Conduct of City Council Business by refusing to treat his fellow Councilmembers with respect.” 

Fact Check: The City hired an investigator to study allegations of misconduct against Krohn and Glover. The investigator’s report found:

• The sole substantiated allegation against Krohn was that he uttered a sarcastic laugh during a staff person’s presentation to the Council. 
• The sole substantiated allegation against Glover is that he got angry with a fellow Council member over the scheduling of a conference room. 
• There is no evidence to substantiate that these incidents were motivated by gender. 
• The investigator recommended that, “Councilmembers should avoid making public accusations of misconduct or bad faith against one another and against City staff without first privately and internally addressing these concerns and attempting conflict resolution and rectification when possible.”

Conclusion:Our community needs to come together to solve our challenging problems.  The diversity of representation on the Council may be the best way to solve our problems in a way that the needs of all people are addressed. Diverse points of view can sometimes lead to conflicts around policy.  Factual distortions and groundless accusations damage the community’s ability to successfully resolve difficult problems.

Look out for those in politics who like to label themselves “fiscally responsible,” yet only seem to care about the price of justice – not the cost of oppression. Everything has a price. And an unjust society is far costlier than one that invests in & values all people. (Nov. 27)