2013 Santa Cruz County Homeless Census and Survey

[Photo: Whose Syko in Santa Cruz?]
72% local. MUCH higher if you use the region as arbiter. Yet all the regional homeless working group seems to manage to do is run their homeless from one city to the other to another and back again even as they accuse each other of "Dumping".

It would be a good time to review Don Lane's SC Patch Op-Ed regarding "Transients". Who they are and what that means to 'communities'. Because Santa Cruz SURE SEEMS TO BE PANDERING TO THEM at the expense of the local community, and that SURE THE FUCK doesn't mean job development, housing development... affordable to people who actually live and work here, and it definitely doesn't mean more homeless, drug rehab or 'behavioral health' facilities for their own dream-shattered citizens.

They CAN seem to come up with $25 MILLION DOLLARS for a jail expansion though. The last time it got 'expanded' to relieve overcrowding when the new facility was built on the site of older homes... AFFORDABLE HOUSING, on Blaine street, the new facility had people sleeping in the day room within the month. It seems the city and county can't do job and housing development, but they seem to have no problem creating 'criminals'.

For instance they make laws they don't enforce against their own businesses such as the OBVIOUS TRIP HAZARD freestanding unattended sandwich signs littering the corners and middle of pedestrian sidewalks on Pacific yet declare that an attended guitar case with a street performer is somehow a hazard.

Today is the day the performance space/smoking/peddling/distance from buildings/what constitutes a 'trip hazard' law changes.

But it won't change for their commercial property owning friends, most of which are real estate investment groups whose only interest in Santa Cruz are ROI interests, and a pandered-into-fear business community. Violate their ordinances. They're illegitimate.

Blanket party `1pm today in front of the American Sweatshop supplied Forever21.

Let's have a Picnic, and break some 'laws'!

Between the testimony of the City's Public Safety Task Force, the Homeless Census & Survey 2013, The City's Homelessness Study Session and data provided by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff re: recidivism & incarceration, it all shows that HUFF has been right all along and that the beliefs held & promoted by the PSTF, Take Back Santa Cruz, Councilmembers Comstock & Judge Ariadne Symons are completely wrong.

Homelessness in Santa Cruz County represents 1.3% of our total population. This is in line with a 1 - 3% homeless rate experienced by cities across our nation.

So we don't have "more than our share."
72% last had housing in SC County.

With only 18% of our homeless pop. sheltered, our services rank among the worst in the nation. Last year, the region ranked 400th out of 425 in the percentage of its homeless population that was sheltered, according HUD data -- one notch above the U.S. Virgin Islands. Hardly a homeless "magnet."
So no, MOST homeless people are NOT moving from outside of Santa Cruz here for our "wonderful" services. They were living here already and our services are not at all "generous."

Data also reveal that homeless people do NOT statistically represent a safety risk to housed people. The VAST majority of "crimes" they are cited or arrested for are camping, sleeping, having an open container, being in a park after hours, dog on the mall after dark, etc. These "crimes" do not truly impact in any way the assault, burglary, car-jacking, or rape rate.

And statistics do NOT show that predatory people are coming from outside of Santa Cruz to prey on our community. 17 out of the 18 people currently charged with murder are locals.

Finally, the Sheriff's report that the length of sentence has no effect on recidivisms. HUFF has long called for an end to criminalization of sleeping, use of bedding, begging, etc. as cruel & unusual treatment.This means that we can greatly shorten sentences w/o any negative effect on public safety. We can allieve overcrowding AND reduce costs.