Plan to Install Fake Parking Meters to Help Homeless Actually Tricky Scheme to Establish 14 Foot Stay Away Zones – Stores Pay $500 for the Extra Protection

Pacific Avenue, the “mall” as it is known to the locals, appears to be straight out of Hollywood’s central casting, with wide tree lined sidewalks and shiny busy stores.  Cars (usually) stop for the throngs of shoppers cascading into crosswalks, clutching ice creams cones and bags of loot piled onto credit cards.  

Street performers sing and lurk on many corners.  Some performers have Grammies.  Others might be selling gram bags.  Some might sing like angels, others not so much.  And that is the epicenter of a war that is going on in Santa Cruz.

Some Pacific Avenue businesses do not appreciate the cadre of performers, hippies, panhandlers and wannabees that perform and bake in proximity to their front doors.  As a result, the hammer of the State has been smashing hippies and homeless on the mall like a whack a mole out of control. 

Long lists of laws have attempted to criminalize hanging out, singing, or being homeless on the mall.  Downtown interests, backed by the police and members of the City Counsel claim that they need to keep the mall safe for the shoppers and strollers.  Street performers have recently been put on trial for singing too loud.

Like an overzealous condo board, this sort of thing is expected from your garden-variety wannabe police state.  A new scheme to keep the perceived riff-raff away however is so clever and ironic, that it deserves special mention.

The City of Santa Cruz has just begun installing vintage parking meters on the mall with the claimed goal to raise money to help the homeless.  Instead of giving spare change to the homeless directly, pump your the spare change into the meter.  The City will then collect that money and provide services to the homeless. 

One obvious goal is cutting off direct money to the panhandlers and street performers.  This writer further notes this to be a Trojan horse of greater trickery, and a new police enforcement tool. 

Panhandling and sitting will be banned within 14 feet of the faux parking meters.  Political tabling will be banned within 10 feet of the faux parking meters.  That’s because the meters are deemed public art, which Santa Cruz protects under the 14-foot stay away forbidden zone.  It is now expected that these meters will be installed along the mall, in front of businesses that do not want people hanging out nearby. 

More skeptical or jaded voices (ok this author) also opine this has the hue of a shakedown.  Any business could sponsor a faux meter in front of its business for $500.  It’s akin to the police offering protection to that business for an extra “donation.” 

Yet another view is that money can buy you an extra set of laws for protection.  A wealthier business spends the $500.  The less affluent business can expect to receive the less vocally trained visitors.  It also has a whiff of a tax (stated just to get the few republicans in the area angry also).  In any event, this faux meter plan does not appear transparent.

The plan purports to offer a revenue source to help the homeless.  In fact, it is a scheme to caste aside people central casting consider extras in this drama we call a community.  

 (© Herman I. Kalfen - April 18, 2010)