Our present city government has not addressed the problems brought about by the Drug-Crimes on our city streets.
The vision of government which I believe most of us share is suggested by the phrase "participatory democracy". What we have in Santa Cruz City Government is something more like feudalism.
There is something fundamentally wrong with City politics. A one-party government is about as interesting as a one-team sporting event. When all are defenders of the same faith, no one is left to say the Emperor has no clothes or that a heroin mercado has thrived on the streets of Beach Flats for twenty years.
I've watched the heroin mercado from its beginning. I understand the convergence of special interests and politically correct rationales that created it and allows it to continue. Because our circle of recycled politicians can't move beyond denial, sublimated racism and wishful thinking, a heroin epidemic has been unleashed on our innocent children.
Let's be honest: our City's image has become one of decadence and absurdity. The human liberation movement is stalled by our surreal denial of the heroin problem.
Heroin takes a person's soul but because that taking is not visual, it is difficult to trace its impact on the general social mood. How much of the anger directed at Downtown panhandlers and hacky sack players is a confused response to the despair emanating from the drug addicts?
It is difficult to say how much heroin there is because heroin addicts can conceal their addiction for a long time, but the 20,000 needles handed out monthly by the Needle Exchange suggest something of the magnitude of the problem. Once strung out, the forecast is grim-- about 80% of users don't get over it and don't live long. With that many people facing that kind of statistical probability, how can it not impact the psychological climate of the City, and how can our inability to meaningfully address the problem not diminish us individually and collectively?
City Council is no longer in touch with reality. It has become dogmatized and self-contained. There is no ideological substitute for independent rational analysis which is what I will bring to City Government.
I am endorsed by NOT BADD! (Neighbors Opposed To Beach Area Drug Dealing). I support Term Limits for City Councilmembers. I will work to get rid of drug dealing and career politicians. We the People have the right to safe streets and open government. I would appreciate your vote.
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