How's it going where YOU live? An article this morning in the Santa Cruz Senile (umn... Sentinel)...
Santa Cruz councilman accuses Santa Cruz police of racial profiling from Santa Cruz Sentinel News SANTA CRUZ — City Councilman Tony Madrigal, upset with a city plan to step up law enforcement on Halloween, accused police of "racial profiling," which city police immediately responded to as "wildly irresponsible" <http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/September/12/local/stories/01local.htm> ...prompted this email to the reporter, and the City Councilman under fire: Sep 12, 2007 10:02 AM subject Re: Sentinel Article - Santa Cruz councilman accuses Santa Cruz police of racial profiling Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ms. McCord, I'll back Mr. Madrigal's play 100%. ...and more. The Santa Cruz PD *is* profiling anyone who doesn't appear to be middle class white. I could deliver reams of depositions, just from my personal experience in my 30 year residency. You might also want to make a historical note that, at the much abused Downtown Commission meeting a few years back, the sentiment of most of the people attending, as proven by the 'hash marks' on the big whiteboard, was that the most PRESSING PROBLEM seemed to be "The appearance of selective enforcement by the Santa Cruz police"... That's a Direct Quote Ms McCord, and the police representative in attendance 'went off' just at the thought that there was the APPEARANCE of such behavior. Sorry... Denial didn't cut it then, and it SURE WON'T now! It's bigger than that though. Santa Cruz is engaged in class war against it's working class/working poor, while attempting some perverse form of gentrification by building NO NEW HOUSING except for the people it hopes to populate the city with, The 'Commuter Class', to milk them for all the Annie Glass, and other consumer crap sold downtown, they can hang on their walls. What WILL the downtown merchants do when those walls are full? Class War Ms McCord. Santa Cruz City government is in violation of the California state charter, as has been proven by the CRLA for Santa Cruz county as a whole. I've seen the PD hassle Chicano families with kids while they were doing nothing more than hanging with the 'crowd' at Borders books. Meth busts by the bus station/Subway sandwich store where the Chicanos & Black folks like to hang, while ignoring the places their OWN children hang out, sell drugs... Bring those Mexicans in on the early 91 express from Watsonville and run 'em right up to the campus to work as janitors/maids/dishwashers, and then bring the Watsonville express right back up there at quitting time to take them back. The last bus to Watsonville leaves quite early, leaving the Watsonville Chicano community isolated from Santa Cruz unless they have enough $$$ to own a car. Not that anyone SHOULD HAVE TO own a car in this supposed progressively green paradise. That has been the case for the 30 years I'VE lived here. The 'homeless', the Chicanos, The Blacks. That IS Santa Cruz city governance... by the 'conservative' element 30 years ago, and now it's the economic "progressive's" sub rosa policy as well. P.S. I am Soooo glad that the SC Sentinel moved out of town... Where y' all belong. It never DID represent the general population of Santa Cruz, and it STILL doesn't. Yours in class war, Leigh Meyers
