Pro-Recall Mailer is Worthy of a Trump Medal of Honor

The Recall by Gillian Greensite

If slick mailers with manipulated information have any effect, then the campaign to recall city council members Drew Glover and Christopher Krohn has gained a lead. The latest expensive mailer from the pro-recall camp is expertly crafted. Its layout is a graphic designer’s dream. Its playing fast and loose with the truth is worthy of a Trump medal of honor.

To realize you are being manipulated you have to have read the source material and few have done that. Had they read the Rose Report they would know that only 2 complaints against the council members were substantiated and neither rose to the level of gender harassment. You’d never know that from the mailer. Seriously, a (inaudible on the tape of the meeting) laugh or smirk from Krohn directed at a senior staffer warrants a formal complaint and a recall? Harsh words from Glover directed at a councilmember who overstayed her time in a conference room warrant a formal complaint and a recall? To add context, the senior staffer is married to the lawyer who lost his contract with the city over his inappropriate (some might say racist) remarks about Glover during the court hearing over the Ross camp. That connection could be seen as a conflict of interest if the campaign against the two men were not already steeped in special interests. The harsh words by Glover were never weighed against the aggrieved council member leaping up and pounding the table at a subsequent council meeting, yelling that no-one should call her a racist since she has been an out lesbian for 30 years. Then there was the past Mayor’s speech in public at a council meeting accusing the two men of harassment, bullying and sexism…or that is what she was told by her friends…with no right of response from Glover or Krohn. Add to the mix the totally inappropriate entrance of the chair and some members of the city Commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Women calling for censure of the two men, which morphed into gossip that the two men were guilty of sexual assault (how could that not be an assumption coming from that commission) and you have all the markings of a kangaroo court.

That there is big money behind the recall from outside real estate and developer interests is well documented. There is also a groundswell of pro-recall support from residents with no ties to outside interests. The anti-recall activists focus understandably on the former. I think it also important to acknowledge the latter. The larger picture that gives energy to the recall is the challenge to vested interests that the new council majority poses. For the first time in decades, developers are facing push back at city hall. Some writers such as Stephen Kessler and others claim that all current, recent and past city council members are environmentalists and progressives and this is but a far-left issue. From my experience that shows a lack of observation. All developments, including the out of scale and just plain ugly, have received council majority support…until now. Not even a noble Redwood tree, nor a beautiful Sequoia, supported by the city arborist, could be saved under prior city councils. I’ve been to council with tree appeals and never had a majority vote to save a heritage tree…until now. The new majority has upped the number of below market rate units required in new developments and committed to protecting small businesses and neighborhoods from over development. If neighbors understood their self-interests, as distinct from landlord or developer interests, they would be less swayed by pro-recall passions.

What has captured the passion for the recall by non-developer interests and should not simply be rejected as lies and manipulation is the houseless issue. With the court ruling on Boise that a city cannot criminalize those sleeping outside if there are insufficient beds for inside sleeping and with our SCPD allowing such outdoor camping, it was a perfect storm for the two council members who campaigned on helping the houseless to become scapegoats for the growing number of outdoor camps. The attempt by the progressive majority to locate suitable sites was hamstrung by the city staff’s limited selection presented. Glover then became a focal point of hostility for choosing one of the sites that staff selected, the site near Depot Park. That the city has made no progress in 20 years on finding an adequate site for overnight sleeping for the houseless yet in a few months found a site for a Warriors Stadium says a lot about priorities.

Neighbors are outraged over the daily spectacle of tents, bike parts, garbage and discarded needles on sidewalks, parks and beaches. Whether they should be is a matter of opinion. It is this outrage that is fueling the recall campaign and the developers are laughing all the way to the bank.

Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild.

Greensite's article was originally published on February 17, 2020 at Bratton Online.