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One of the major issues now confronting the City of Santa Cruz, and residents outside the city limits, too, is whether or not the City should partner with the Soquel Creek Water District to construct a $100 million dollar desalination plant to meet the need for water during drought periods in the City of Santa Cruz water service area, and to help relieve the threat of groundwater overdraft in the Soquel Creek Water District.
An initiative measure is being proposed in the City of Santa Cruz, that would amend the Santa Cruz City Charter to provide City voters with an opportunity to vote on desalination before it is approved, permitted, or funded. The idea is to let the voters make the final decision.
A kickoff party for the Right to Vote On Desalination initiative will be held on Sunday, February 12th, at 418 Front Street in Santa Cruz starting at 2pm. It will be catered by India Joze, with music and painting by Rus Brutsché, and will feature Adam Scow, from Food and Water Watch, speaking on “How We Won the Right to Vote on Desal in Marin” and Barbara Sprenger, co-organizer of Felton Friends of Locally Owned Water (FLOW). Felton FLOW successfully wrested ownership of their local water system from multinational giant, CAL-Am Water.
Read more, including the Text of the Charter Amendment | See also: Felton Prevails in Six-Year Fight to Acquire Water System from Cal-Am and RWE || Desalination and the Alternatives: It's Up to the Community || Plan B: The Alternative to Desalination || Invitation-Only Meeting Held to Promote a Desalination Plant in Santa Cruz || Decision Day for City Council on Desalination
Mayor Don Lane — in the most blatant selective cancellation of Oral Communications yet at City Council — denied Robert Norse and several other speakers public speaking time at the close of the January 24th Santa Cruz City Council meeting. The agenda scheduled that public comment period for the end of the afternoon session. As described in a letter from Norse to Lane, Lane adjourned the meeting rather than allow time for people to speak. Lane has not suggested that he will modify this procedure in future meetings.
Robert Norse, a frequent speaker during Oral Communications, states, "While it is foolish to believe that speaking to the Council generally has any meaningful impact on their votes (even if numbers of people speak), it is still important in my view to insist on the right to do so. Also since the proceedings are televised, one is also speaking to the community. This reality sometimes constrains Council members to explain their actions."
Read more | See also: City Manager and Vice-Mayor Stonewall OSC Activists |  Police Raid and Destroy Occupy Santa Cruz Encampment in San Lorenzo Park | Courthouse Steps Now Free Speech-Free at Night; SCPD Threats Downtown; Offices Close
The City of Fresno has announced a plan for the massive evictions of the homeless, starting at 7 a.m. on Thursday, October 27th. Speaking in front of City Hall on Wednesday, homeless people and their allies said the planned eviction was heartless and cruel. Community Alliance newspaper editor Mike Rhodes said “destroying their modest shelter and chasing them with a stick from one vacant lot or sidewalk to another will do nothing to help their lives or to end homelessness in Fresno.”
Alex Darocy writes: Public officials from the past and present filed into the Museum of Art and History Monday night [September 19] as Mike Rotkin and Cynthia Mathews, describing themselves as part of "the Sustainable Water Coalition," hosted a private, invite-only informational meeting in support of the proposed desalination plant project. The desal project, which so far has cost $6 million dollars to be studied, has been aggressively promoted by officials, and this private meeting has brought up issues of governmental transparency. This meeting punctuates a new era of suspicion concerning local politicians: during the planning of the desal project there have been conflicts of interest, including the selection of the URS Corporation to author the EIR [Environmental Impact Report], as well as recent ethics violations on the part of city officials.
Mike Rotkin was nowhere to be seen inside, and it was unclear if any of those at the meeting were also members of the "Sustainable Water Coalition." When questioned through email, Rotkin and Mathews have so far not disclosed who has funded the group (and paid for renting the museum) and they have not disclosed the names of any of the other members of the coalition, or if there are even any other members at all. At times, the meeting had the feel of a private club filled with public officials, and clearly a group of them there had politically bonded over the issue and were using the event to further those connections.
Private Desal Meeting - Report, Photos, Background | City of Santa Cruz Consultant Verifies Decline in Drought Risk |  October 3: Water Commission Meeting
For protesting on the county steps against Santa Cruz laws that make it illegal for the homeless to sleep at night, homeless activists Gary Johnson and Attorney Ed Frey were sentenced to 6 months in jail on June 10th. Bail was set for Ed Frey at $50,000. Their only act of civil disobedience was sleeping. Revealing the political nature of the draconian sentences, Judge Gallagher told Gary Johnson that he “could get some sleep in jail” before they were dragged away in chains for their 6 month sentences.
In the culmination of a week of protests against proposed budget cuts to education, protesters gathered in the state capitol building in Sacramento on May 9th. Demonstrators chanted slogans such as "They say cut back, we say fight back." Students lead the way and two hundred others joined in, including teachers and community leaders. Students had come from up and down the state, including a large contingent from UC Santa Cruz. Following the chanting, sixty-five protesters committed nonviolent civil disobedience by sitting down and refusing to leave the Rotunda after the Capitol closed to the public for the day. All sixty-five were arrested. Those arrested were held overnight, and were kept with their hands handcuffed behind their backs for the first six hours of their detainment. Only three of those arrested were charged with resisting arrest, while the rest were charged with misdemeanor trespass.
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Previous Related Indybay Feature:
May Day 2011 for Labor and Immigrant Rights
A new film, Medical Cannabis and Its Impact on Human Health, exposes the lies about the medical use of marijuana that led the San Diego City Council to enact a virtual ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. Director James Schmachtenberger, who works at a local dispensary, appeared with the film on April 30th at a showing sponsored by Activist San Diego. The film is a bit dry, and even Schmachtenberger describes it as not especially entertaining, but it lays out the facts about marijuana's medical uses and makes the case for allowing the substance to be used to treat disease and preserve health.
The San Diego City Council spent nearly six hours on March 28th listening to public input and debating a proposed permit process for medical marijuana dispensaries. The Council passed a measure that dispensary members and their supporters say amounts to a virtual ban. Though public speakers in support of medical marijuana far outnumbered opponents at each stage of the process, the Council enacted an ordinance that would make it virtually impossible for dispensaries to locate anywhere in the city of San Diego.
Because of agricultural discharges from Salinas Valley farms, the lower Salinas River has been found to have one of the highest levels of nitrates of any river in the world. During the summer, the river is bright green with a thick mat of toxic algae. The fertilizer doesn’t just impair the Salinas River. When the first rain comes in the fall, a huge pulse of sediment and fertilizer flushes out into Monterey Bay. This pulse has been associated with toxic algae blooms that sicken or kill sea otters, sea lions, and sea birds.
On March 3rd, the Seaside City Council voted unanimously to outlaw PG&E's wireless smart meter installation within city limits. On March 8th, Lake and San Luis Obispo Counties joined the list, calling upon the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to stop installing wireless meters until more is known about short and long term health impacts and potential privacy violations. Residents from all over California will attend the CPUC meeting on March 10th starting at 9am at 505 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco.
On February 11th, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Republican state legislators introduced legislation to end collective bargaining for public employees on the premise that the attack on unions was motivated by budgetary concerns. Within a week, tens of thousands of public employees and labor supporters were demonstrating daily in the capital of Madison. On February 18th, shortly before the vote was scheduled to be held, fourteen Democratic Wisconsin Senators left the state to prevent a quorum for the vote.
Protests and solidarity rallies have since spread across Wisconsin, the wider Midwest, and throughout the U.S. Protesters say that investment is needed to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work. They point out that neither workers nor unions caused the budget crisis and demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share.
On February 26th, rallies were held in over 50 U.S. cities as part of a national day of action. At rallies in Sacramento, San Francisco, Fresno, and San Diego, demonstrators stood in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin. They demanded an end to the attacks on workers' rights and public services across the country.
On March 11th, Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature used a parliamentary procedure to end-run past the boycotting Senate Democrats and passed the union-busting elements of the bill. Labor supporters continue to demonstrate and are collecting signatures for recalling eight Republican state senators.
February 26th Rallies
San Francisco:
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Event Announcement
Sacramento:
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Fresno:
Photos
San Diego:
Photos
February 22nd Rallies
Sacramento:
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Event Announcement
Oakland:
Event Announcement
San Rafael:
Event Announcement
See Also:
Clarence Thomas ILWU Local 10 on Internationalism, KORUS and Wisconsin |
Battleground Wisconsin: Corporate Power v. Worker Rights |
Corporate Coup d'Etat in Wisconsin |
Wisconsin Unions Vote to Prepare a General Strike |
Nationwide Student Walkout |
Wisconsin State Senate voted Today to end End Collective Bargaining! |
Why Reject Concessions in Wisconsin |
Wisconsin Democrats Plan Capitulation |
Waging War on Working Americans |
Reactionary Extremism in Wisconsin |
Why we should picket the AFL/CIO Western Conference on April 9 |
Looking Toward Wisconsin: An Interview With A Participant From Milwaukee |
Spreading Activism for Change |
Why All Workers Should Support Unions |
Hidden Provisions in Wisconsin Bill |
Wisconsin's Spirit: Courage for Other States to Emulate |
Wisconsin Courage |
Union Busting in America |
Governer Scott Wilson busted by prank call from blogger pretending to David Koch |
2/23/11 Updates on Wisconsin Labor Struggle |
Wisconsin: Ground Zero to Save Public Worker Rights |
Live Reporting from the Wisconsin Protests |
Waging War on Chicago Workers |
Where did the money go Gov. Walker? |
Tea Party Stooges Join Wisconsin Protests |
To Win, Prepare to Strike Wisconsin! |
WI: Labor leaders drag out Jesse Jackson, intensify efforts to temper protests (TCIMC) |
 Wisconsin Teachers Take a Stand |
How to Win in Wisconsin and Beyond |
Wisconsin Labor Leads 2d American Revolution |
US Workers: Resurgent or Waging a Rearguard Action? |
Union leaders want to limit the goals as Wisconsin protests grow |
The Wisconsin Uprising |
Egypt's Spirit Lands in Wisconsin |
Call to act in support of Wisconsin Workers and Students |
Wisconsin Gov. bans collective bargaining 4 public sector employees/massive protests erupt
On March 1st, Monterey City Council unanimously adopted a resolution demanding Pacific Gas and Electric immediately halt the installation of Smart Meters and related infrastructure within city limits. Monterey is the first city in Monterey County to take formal action against Smart meters, and joins 28 other cities, towns, and counties around California in taking action opposing them.
While many people were out buying Valentine's Day gifts or flowers, same-sex couples in San Francisco were asking for the right to marry on February 14th. Every year since 2005 same-sex couples go to the City and County Clerks' office in San Francisco's City Hall on Valentine's Day and request to get married. And each year they are denied, so they a hold sit-in until they are arrested.
UPDATE: On February 11th, Mubarak resigned and passed control of the country to an Egyptian military council.
A new mass protest in Egypt took place Friday, February 4th, as plain clothes police and other Mubarak supporters continued to attack protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square. In the early morning hours of February 3rd, supporters of the regime opened fire on the protesters in the square, killing at least eleven.
An international day of protest in solidarity with the Egyptian people was held February 5th. In San Francisco, thousands of protesters, including many Egyptians, gathered and marched in solidarity with the mass movement in Egypt.
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