Tragic engagement with dangerous ‘grifters’

GOP are the real thieves on relief and voting rights

“Stop the steal” Trump supporters, including senators and members of Congress, shout loudly and often. Those three words would be better placed at the feet of those Republican senators poised to steal vital benefits from Americans by using stalling techniques to delay passage of the COVID relief bill. Those words should be tacked on the doors of every Republican state house striving to steal the votes of Americans with draconian voting restrictions. They should be directed toward every Republican senator and member of Congress who fights against the House resolution on election reform. No election was stolen in 2020 but there are real attempts to steal COVID help and voting rights.

So who are the real thieves?

Outrageous dump fees contribute to litter

In a recent letter one writer expressed his displeasure with people dumping their trash and unwanted items in public places. I must confess seeing trash discarded along side of the road has long been a source of aggravation for me as well.

That said, I recently took a broken wooden lawn chair and an old bamboo curtain to the dump (Ben Lomond transfer station) in the trunk of my car. I was charged $30 (with my senior discount) to dispose of the two items. While I am still outraged that people are rude and thoughtless enough to just dump their trash in public, the county has contributed to the situation. For some it comes down to paying dump fees or buying groceries. Surely the county could do something to help improve the situation.

On March 31, 2020, my friend Kimberly “Sky” Smith, 55, was murdered in her Santa Cruz home. Apparently, the two young, out-of-town suspects took advantage of Sky’s generosity by stabbing her multiple times, as well as stealing her car and some cash. This tragedy confirms my decision years ago to donate money to local organizations such as Second Harvest rather than to engage anyone on the street. I urge everyone to think twice before communicating with potential grifters who might respond to your kindness with violence and even murder.

Council members making same mistake on homeless

It’s deja vu all over again. Some new City Council members think the city should be paying for a huge managed camp somewhere in a city where an extensive search and massive opposition to such just two years ago proved that idea doesn’t have public support, not in residential neighborhoods anyway. Two past members found out the hard way what lack of support for their ideas meant. There is growing awareness that it is homeless supportive services just here that is responsible for this record density of homeless people. That newbie council members think adding more massive services here will reduce that population, or is affordable, or that welfare is actually the city’s responsibility is disappointing.

Appreciation for Sentinel’s role in community

The Sentinel has given to the Santa Cruz community for all these years; yes I know that these words have echoed many times in the last 165 years, The Sentinel has never been taken for granted; it’s gone through good times and difficult times, and fought for a breath in these times of internet news delivery. However what it gives cannot be replaced or supplemented from another source. From the news to the opportunity of citizens to have a voice by submitting Letters to the Editor, and it seems in COVID times with news information needs, we appreciate the Sentinel so very much.

Solution to pet-vehicle tragedies: Buy cats cars

We’ve all known or experienced pet tragedies involving automobiles. I read about it every week on NextDoor. I think the solution is what we’ve done with ourselves and our kids. We have to keep our cats inside and then when they get older, we buy them cars and then they can go outside in a large vehicle that will protect them from what we did to outside — which is make outside relatively loud and dangerous unless you are in a crash-protected vehicle. Then our cats can enjoy nature like we do, by driving in giant loud trucks and cars to see the sunset in a big beautiful traffic jam on West Cliff Drive.