Downtown Guide Encounters

The man in the first photo was playing guitar while sitting against the bike lockers located adjacent to the metro center on Pacific Avenue. When the guide (who was walking with a First Alarm security guard) approached the man she said to him, “you can’t be sitting and playing here.” The man immediately stopped playing, stood up, and moved.

In the second photo (which was taken 20 minutes after the first photo), the same hospitality guide encountered a teenage man sitting on the railing of a planter located across Pacific Avenue from the Old Theatre building, and told him, “don’t sit on the railing.” A detail from that photo shows an older woman leaning against the rail. The guide did not approach or speak to her.

From the Hospitality Program web page:

The Hospitality Guide Program’s (HGP) mission is to assist in promoting a clean, safe, and friendly atmosphere for shoppers, residents, employees and visitors. This mission is accomplished in the following ways:
Providing information and directions to shoppers, visitors and residents alike.
Providing a visible presence in the Downtown area and assisting in maintaining compliance with municipal codes by using educational outreach.

In 2009, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that the program’s cost was $130,000.

The faces of the subjects of these images have been blurred.

This report does not assert that either the downtown guide or the individuals spoken to were in violation of the law in any way.


Alex Darocy
http://alexdarocy.blogspot.com/