Back Again and Stalking the Community in Progressive Garb

The latest ominous news re: TBSC is their infiltration into the City's politically-correct power structure through the CCPVAW. The two organizations are jointly sponsoring a TBSC event under a feminist guise this coming week.


The rhetoric of the announcement is innocent-sounding:

"'Take back our streets' invites everyone who wishes to make our streets safer for all community members to walk freely without the fear of being attacked.

We wish to respond in a peaceful way to the recent acts of violence in our community. By walking together we exercise our solidarity and show our willingness to work towards the safety of everyone. Together we can begin the healing necessary to break the cycle of violence that affects us all.

By walking with our lights through the darkest parts of our streets, we hope to shed light on the issues. Join us and together we will make a difference.

This action will start with a rally and speakers at 6:30 p.m. followed by a lighted walk to "take back" and personally illuminate areas near downtown Santa Cruz.

Bring a flashlight and/or candle, a friend, and dress warmly for the walk."


However TBSC has held "clean-up's" and "loiter-in's" in the past which similarly use the language of safety and community while declining to advise their participants not to destroy homeless property and homeless camps as other groups like Save Our Shores do when they conduct similar activities. [See http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/01/14/18669204.php?show_comments=1#18670694 & the comments that precede it]

In addition TBSC seems to be serving as a platform for right-wing political advancement on the City Council and City agencies.

A Free Radio Santa Cruz correspondent reported that Heather Babcock, Analicia Cube's sister, was recently at the last TBSC "positive loitering" rally (the one that prompted the removal of the payphone). Babcock is reportedly a recent appointee to the CCPVAW. She publicly supported and recruited for TBSC at http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/opinion/ci_15438409 . Analicia and Dexter Cube are the founders of TBSC.

As far as I know, the Cubes and their followers still been discreetly silent on their directives to the 'cleanup squads'. Homeless guitarist Ricardo Lopez reported both police and TBSC (apparently sometimes in conjunction) have torn down homeless camps, and confiscated or destroyed homeless survival gear while driving them away from the river levee.

It will also be interesting to watch of SCPD Chief Vogel's cops ticket "loitering" TBSC/CCPVAW participants who find themselves on the City Hall grounds after 10 PM. Through an illegal edict, Parks and Recreation Director Dannettee Shoemaker, in collusion with Vogel, then-Mayor Rotkin, and City Manager Martin Bernal attacked the homeless protesters in Peace Camp 2010 [PC2010] back in September by declaring the grounds illegal to be in in the late night and early morning hours. Such a decision--an assault on public space and peaceful protesting under any circumstances--legally has to be done after informing the Parks and Recreation Commission--which Shoemaker did not do.

She did something similar with the library benches across the street and the area long the levee at Soquel and River Sts. across from CVS in attacks on PeaceCamp and the Drum Circle respectively.

If TBSC and the CCPVAW are truly concerned about the fate of the most vulnerable--homeless women faced with the Sleeping Ban outside--perhaps they will join in a late-night sleep-in to protect official city police attacks on homeless women like Collette Connolly who faces more than a dozen sleeping ban and bogus trespass charges at night for holding up a sign during the three-month PC2010 protests last summer. When hell freezes over.

After all, in 1998 the CCPVAW officially moved to oppose the Sleeping Ban sections of the Camping Ban as dangerous to women--discouraging their gathering in protective groups and using police services to report threats and assaults. What a difference a decade makes.