PROTECTING OUR NEIGHBORHOODS AND QUALITY OF LIFE

By Karen Woblesky

However, I believe that our environment and quality of life are not limited to only recreational or educational pursuits. They also include enjoying a comfortable sense of well being within our community and in our neighborhoods, and the feeling of being safe as we visit our public spaces. Unfortunately, we have experienced events recently that indicate that this aspect of our environment and our quality of life are deteriorating.

One example is that our community has a serious drug problem. In a recent clean up conducted by the Parks and Recreation Department, City staff picked up 66 used syringes along one side of the riverbank between the Water Street and Soquel Avenue bridges. That does not include the one that I stepped over recently downtown on the corner of Walnut and Pacific, or the others that are thoughtlessly discarded throughout our community. We have also seen increased violence, despair, and tragedy reported recently in our local media: stabbings, shootings, overdoses, prostitution, and a growing disregard for civility and a lack of respect for others.

The growing perception to many observers is that Santa Cruz is becoming a dangerous community. We have witnessed an increased level of anti-social behavior that is making many community residents and visitors feel ill at ease. Anti-heroes such as drug dealers and small-time hoodlums are wreaking havoc within our community. Their disputes become ours when our neighborhoods and public streets are used as a stage for their misguided activities. The randomness of recent attacks and other violent behavior downtown brings this issue home to each community resident.

As a community, we must approach our environment and quality of life issues of substance abuse, violence, and personal safety with determination and resolve. We must continue to offer compassion and assistance to those substance abusers that want help in getting their lives back. We need to hold accountable those who are disruptive as a result of their misguided behavior and illegal activities. We must clearly state that we will not accept a community where illegal activities are conducted in public spaces where our children play and adults stroll.

We must also clearly state that while Santa Cruz will always protect individual civil liberties, we will not confuse the protection of civil liberties with individual responsibility and the expectation of civil behavior in our public spaces. We must all work together to reclaim our environment and quality of life so that everyone can enjoy and appreciate our public spaces without fear or hesitation.

We must make a similar commitment to maintain the environment and quality of life in our established neighborhoods. Each neighborhood within our community has its own distinctive style and characteristics. Most likely, it was the character of a neighborhood that attracted you to purchase or rent a home there. We have all made substantial financial sacrifices to live in Santa Cruz, and any proposed changes to our established neighborhoods should be approached with great care and caution.

Whether a neighborhood has concerns relating to traffic noise, vandalism, speeding, rumbling trucks, seniors or children, inconsiderate and noisy neighbors, safety, housing density, privacy, drug abuse, increasing community participation, or becoming more active in our political process, these issues will affect the ability of residents to enjoy their neighborhood environment and quality of life.

We need a new approach towards making a commitment to maintain our environment and quality of life. I believe that we can move forward in the right direction by:

· ensuring that the City provides the most efficient and appropriate methods of offering substance abuse counseling, employment training, and related services to substance abusers;

· fully staffing our police department to allow for quick response times when criminal activity is reported; and,

· increasing citizen/neighborhood involvement in determining their own destiny by:

- encouraging neighborhood watch programs for the safety and improved community awareness of residents;

- encouraging neighborhoods to develop neighborhood organizations that would meet regularly with City leadership in a roundtable forum. Further encouragement could be given to eligible neighborhood organizations by receiving matching City cash grants to support projects and activities that will further communication and build membership. For example, matching grants could be used for:

· publishing and distributing a neighborhood newsletter;

· conducting a neighborhood interest survey;

· offering local nursery credits towards purchasing bushes and/or trees to create additional privacy and noise reduction; and,

· sponsoring workshops or training programs to help neighborhoods develop communication, mediation, or outreach skills and strategies to collectively resolve neighborhood issues.

I will work hard to protect and maintain our environment and quality of life both in our public spaces and in our neighborhoods. Together, we must support and invest in all of our neighborhoods. By working together, you and I can create an even greater sense of community here in Santa Cruz.