Boycott Businesses that Support the Santa Cruz Recall

Boycott Businesses that Support the Santa Cruz Recall

Surf City Barber Shop

Surf City Barber Shop has been listed by Santa Cruz United as one of the official signature gathering locations for the recall petition. Surf City Barber Shop is owned by Jerome Fardette, who is married to Janet Fardette, an anti-homeless activist who in 2017 started a petition calling on the City of Santa Cruz Health Department to shut Santa Cruz Food Not Bombs down and prevent the organization from sharing food with the homeless in public. The petition supporting Food Not Bombs created in response to Fardette's received more than ten times as many signatures.

Stockwell Cellars

Central Coast Welding and Fabrication Inc

Stockwell Cellars on the West Side of Santa Cruz is hosting the Santa Cruz United campaign kickoff party scheduled for mid-July. Stockwell Cellars is a winery owned by Eric and Suzanne Stockwell, who also own Central Coast Welding and Fabrication Inc. Santa Cruz United posted on their website a thank you message to the business for hosting the event.

Union Foodie Truck

Union Foodie Truck owner Rachel Thompson and her husband Gus Ceballos issued a letter in support of the recall, which is being circulated by Santa Cruz Together on social media. Ceballos, who is Program Director for the local non-profit Companion for Life Project and a losing candidate in 2010 for Santa Cruz City Council, is one of the 20 individuals who signed the original notices of intention to circulate the recall petitions submitted to the city. The notice of intention aimed at Drew Glover, that Ceballos signed, contained false information about Glover (see photo).

Union Foodie Truck is a favorite of Take Back Santa Cruz members; Take Back Santa Cruz member Steve Schlicht has promoted the Union Foodie Truck on his Santa Mierda anti-homeless hate blog, and Take Back Santa Cruz member Kim Laney and others also actively promote the business.

KSCO

Bone-A-Fide Dog Care

AM radio station KSCO hosts weekly petition signing events at their station during the show hosted by self-described "radical republican" and on-air personality Ashley Scontriano, who was a candidate in the 2018 Santa Cruz City Council election who lost the race to Drew Glover by a considerable margin.

Ashley Scontriano has been calling for Drew Glover to be recalled since March or earlier (see photo). During the 2018 election, Scontriano expressed extreme views on homelessness and white supremacy.

Ashley Scontriano is the owner of Bone-A-Fide Dog Care. Scontriano first stepped into the public eye in 2016 when she was operating an illegal dog kennel out of her home in a residential neighborhood within the city limits of Santa Cruz. The business was shut down after neighbors were forced to contact the authorities.

Santa Cruz Record

Cruzio (Independent Suites), 877 Cedar Street, Suite 150 has been listed by Santa Cruz United as one of the official signature gathering locations for the recall petition. A customer service representative at Cruzio confirmed by phone that 'Santa Cruz Record' is the business facilitating the collection of signatures for the recall petition out of the independent suites at Cruzio.

Santa Cruz Record is a business publishing service. Liese Varenkamp is the owner, editor and publisher of Santa Cruz Record. In the past, Liese Varenkamp worked in Santa Cruz as a foreclosure auctioneer. At that time, Varenkamp published a magazine called Investors Edge, which was a list of foreclosed homes for sale on the Central Coast.

Brooks Properties

Brooks Properties has been listed by Santa Cruz United as one of the official signature gathering locations for the recall petition. The business is owned by real estate developer Bill Brooks, who is also a real estate broker.

Anderson McKelvey Architects

John McKelvey of Anderson McKelvey Architects is a Santa Cruz based Architect who is one of the individuals who signed the original June 6th notices of intention to circulate the recall petitions submitted to the city. In addition to organizing the recall campaign, McKelvey also worked to oppose Measure M and the rent control campaign in Santa Cruz during the 2018 election. In February of this year, McKelevey wrote a letter to the editor that was published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel titled City Council risks recall with just-cause eviction. The letter stated, in part, that councilmembers supporting renter protections in Santa Cruz, "may have to answer to the voters – in a recall election. Someone winning an election with 11 percent of the vote, or less, should worry about getting a 50 percent vote to remain in office."

Carolyn Livingston Campaign Services

Financial documents filed with the City by Santa Cruz United reveal that Dan Coughlin of Santa Cruz Together is listed as the Principal Officer of Santa Cruz United. Carolyn Livingston is listed as the Treasurer of Santa Cruz United. Livingston is a consultant at "Carolyn Livingston Campaign Services" and was Treasurer for Santa Cruz City Council candidate Cynthia Mathews during her successful 2016 campaign. Livingston also serves as 2nd Vice Chair (Membership) of the Democratic Women’s Club of Santa Cruz County.

Damon Bruder Construction

Contractor Damon Bruder is an active organizer of the recall (see photos). He's far right politically, and is married to Paige Concannon, an active Republican who lost the race to Drew Glover by a considerable margin. Concannon is also a signature gatherer and organizer of the recall campaign.

Jane Becker, Attorney

Take Back Santa Cruz member Jane Becker is promoting, and apparently working at, a petition signature gathering location on Pacific Avenue near her business office. Becker promoted the signature gathering location on two different hate blogs: Santa Mierda and Santa Cruz Looks Like Shit!

Biomarcommunications

Biomarcommunications is a marketing and web communication services business operated by Take Back Santa Cruz member Steve Schlicht, who has been calling for the recall of Drew Glover since at least April on the Santa Mierda hate blog, which he publishes anonymously using the name 'Ben Dover'. Business clients of Schlicht's include EffOne Software, Technology Vision Group LLC, University of California Santa Cruz, Coderant Life Sciences, Incyte Genomics and Genentech Inc.

Steve Schlicht posts content in support of the recall, including personal attacks targeting Councilmembers Glover and Krohn, almost daily on his hate blog. Schlicht's political past includes working on the campaign of losing Santa Cruz City Council candidate Ashley Scontriano during the 2018 election. In an apparent conflict of interest, he also endorsed Scontriano during that election period anonymously as 'Ben Dover' on Santa Mierda. Previously, he designed Cynthia Mathews' website during her successful run for Santa Cruz City Council.

Individuals working on the recall post signature gathering locations directly to Santa Mierda's Facebook page regularly, including Dan Coughlin, Carol Polhamus, Paige Concannon, Ashley Scontriano, and Take Back Santa Cruz member Kim Laney.

Steve Schlicht served for a short period of time on the Santa Cruz Public Safety Task Force, which was a public commission in the City of Santa Cruz. He is probably best known locally for the statement he made during his time on the task force that he was "fine with junkies dying", which became a public scandal reported on by Indybay and the Santa Cruz Weekly.

Other Considerations

A boycott may or may not be applicable to the business interests of Analica Cube and Pamela Comstock, two of the co-founders of Take Back Santa Cruz who helped co-author Santa Cruz United's first major public statement promoting the recall petition. Analica Cube's husband, Dexter Cube is a Take Back Santa Cruz member who actively supports the recall. He is an appointed member of the City of Santa Cruz Downtown Commission, and a Senior Account Executive at Sage Payment Solutions. Dexter Cube has a history of financial misdeads. In a 2018 interview, Analicia Cube was caught attempting to cover up the facts about Dexter Cube's past.

Pamela Comstock is Vice President of Sales and Operations at Antares Audio Technologies, the company that produces "auto-tune" technology popularized by artists such as Britney Spears and others. As a Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 2012-2016, Comstock earned herself one of the worst anti-homeless voting records on modern record. During a City Council meeting in 2013, Comstock proposed 'Smart Solutions for Shoppers' (a play of words on 'Smart Solutions to Homelessness', which is a local organization) as a method of ending homelessness.

Information on donors to Santa Cruz United has not officially been made available yet. Campaign reporting documents for Santa Cruz United are posted on the City of Santa Cruz website: here.