Wes Modes: Here's to a do-it-yourself new year (Repost Sentinel Op-ed)

Friday night, the Last Night DIY Parade will celebrate its sixth year. It's an event in which the community comes together to commemorate the turn of the year and celebrate what we can create together. But what's the fuss? As they say, everyone loves a parade ... except in Santa Cruz.

Some civic leaders and Santa Cruz police are less than thrilled about it.

Last Night DIY was a celebration that fulfilled a community need. For years, the city sponsored an event on New Year's Eve until it collapsed under its own weight and expense in 2004. As a response, people in the community picked up the challenge of creating an inclusive, open do-it-yourself celebration for free without city or corporate sponsorship. For five years now it has offered a creative, peaceful and family-friendly alternative to the usual alcohol-fueled madness of New Year's Eve. People found out about the parade through fliers, the Web, and most importantly, word-of-mouth.

Rather than view this as an amazing example of the creativity, resilience and resourcefulness of our local community, civic leaders and the local police have viewed it as an ongoing problem because the people who participate [families, children, students, townies, several former mayors] refuse to file the proper forms in triplicate and pay enormous kickbacks to the city for the privilege of celebrating together and exercising their right to free expression and assembly.

So much so that in 2005,
Advertisement
Santa Cruz police authorized undercover officers to infiltrate parade meetings in people's homes and compile surveillance on individuals and groups engaged in First Amendment activities. Until the tide of public opinion swayed their stance, most of the City Council supported the police spying. The city's own police auditor concluded that police had violated the civil rights of parade planners. With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, organizers pressured the City Council into adopting guidelines that put some limits on when and how the Santa Cruz Police Department could spy on you.

For years, Mayor Ryan Coonerty and outgoing Mayor Mike Rotkin have complained that the parade does not pay its fair share of services on New Year's. However, for its entire history, even police reports have noted that participants have taken responsibility for all the impacts of the parade, including traffic control and cleanup.

To be clear, I'm not helping organize the parade this year and, due to the city attorney selectively targeting participants last year, it isn't likely you will see me marching in it. But it is nice to see the celebration continue in the same indomitable spirit.

It is important, especially in these lean economic times, that communities learn to support themselves and each other. As civic institutions struggle to stay afloat, it is an opportunity for people to take responsibility for their own neighborhoods, safety, education, health, public spaces and even celebrations. We are fortunate to live in a community in which the do-it-yourself spirit is alive and well.

Here's to a do-it-yourself new year.

Wes Modes is a Felton resident.