Capitola PD will be violating the 4th Amendment tonight on 41st avenue, intercepting, harrassing, searching, interrogating, and shaking-down innocent drivers.

The 60 residents of Clear View Court mobile home park lost their rent control protections last September when the City Council caved in to Manufactured Home Communities (MHC), an out of state corporation, and abandoned rent control for mobile home parks in Santa Cruz. In an attempt to do damage control, the council offered to negotiate long-term leases for tenants at fair market value. But what is fair?

In an unusual Thursday City Council meeting -- held in the afternoon maximizing the inability of residents to attend the meeting, the City unveiled its deal of 34 year leases for the current residents of Clear View Court. These leases will replace the "irrevocable" leases "in perpetuity" that the City signed with residents guaranteeing rent control and then abandoned when the rapacious MHC sued the City for unfair practices.

In December, residents of Clear View Court were shocked to get notices of rent increases that doubled or tripled their existing rents with no increase in services. They were simply renting the same patch of bare ground the owners had operated at a profit for years. The City stepped in hoping to help negotiate a fair deal for both park owners and coach owners, and owners offered to forego the rent increases until May 1st if the residents agreed not to sue the City or the Park owners before April 26th, 2004.

The Council discussion continued on into the evening with a lengthy recess. In the course of that discussion, Mayor Kennedy advised the public that nothing he had heard from the tenants dissuaded him from supporting the staff-proposed plan opposed by Clear View Court residents. Emily Reilly gushed that she was on the edge of tears over the tenant's situation, but raised no objections to the proposed "settlement".

The final Council decision was postponed until Tuesday April 27th at 5:00 PM. There will be no public comment allowed, but a large showing may empower residents to sue City Council, begin gathering signatures for a referendum to overturn the Council's aggressively pro-landlord decision, or take some kind of larger direct action.

[ emergency city council meeting was odd and sad I Clear View Court Sell-Out is Tuesday (4/27) at 5:00 PM ]

Interview with Michael Schwartz, sociology professor at the State University of New York, conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris

Where we are headed

Solidarity with Venezuela

BI-WEEKLY SANTA CRUZ INDYMEDIA UPDATE
APRIL 23, 2004

You had better read this quickly before some Zionist mole deletes it. Copy it and e-mail it to your entire e-mail list and request that they do the same.

...Lights Middle East Fuse * Interview with Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine, conducted by Between the Lines' Scott Harris

basically the owners of clearview court mobile home park want to raise the rent and sqeeze the low income people rom the park (if they can't raise the rent they want part of the money from the eventual sale of the the trailers). they are talking about a 15% yearly raise in rent for 34 years. then ????

Just back from actions in Barcelona, Spain, "Reverend Billy" and his Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir have fought Starbucks, Disney, Walmart, and many other corporate chains in cities around the US. On April 20, the Reverand Billy brought his flock to Santa Cruz for spirited street action to break the monotony of everyday life.....

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