From Donna R.  Friday August 12, 2011.

This morning between 5:30-5:45 AM a pickup truck parked on Via Hermosa as enter through the sliding rear window, and the vehicle was eventually stolen.  A couple of neighbors spotted the perpetrator struggling to enter the vehicle, and tried to frighten his off, to no avail.  The police were called but before their arrival, the perpetrator found the spare keys in the vehicle and drove off.  The vehicle was located a short time later in the area near Vista Bella and Carbonera Drives.  Having a spare key hidden in vehicles is not a good idea. Carry a spare in your wallet or purse.

There have in the past week been a couple of incidents where a man, about 40 years old and dressed in black, with long black hair has been seen hanging around in the Esmeralda Drive and Court, as well as along Carbonera Drive, near the open space for the condos on upper Isbel.  He was described as appearing “very ominous”.  When approached by a neighbor, he refused to respond to the inquiry as to whether he was a new neighbor, or might be lost, and jumped over fences to get away. He was later seen by another neighbor in their back yard.  Again he ran off.  About 6 pm he was reported to the police when spotted in the edge of the bushes on the condo open space, but left before the police arrived.  In a conversation with Lt. Escalante, from SCPD, in which I related the contact incidents, he suggested that we not make contact with people we know are out of place here, and who might be casing the neighborhood for a later return.  Instead he requested that we call 911, and let them send a patrol car to handle the situation, and find out who these people are.  We have no way of knowing who might be high on drugs, or have a weapon.  We should allow SCPD to make all contacts.

Note:The last reported auto burglary in the neighborhood proved to involve 4 vehicles, not 1 as originally thought.  All the vehicles were accidentally left unlocked.  Remember, click that remote one more time before retiring for the night.

From Donna R.

Sometime during Tuesday night there was another vehicle burglary, this time in the 200 block of Isbel Drive.  Taken in this theft was a purse with all the usual items and an I-pod.  This is not going to stop, so it is imperative that all vehicles be kept locked when not in use.  Just having to replace all the identification, credit cards and checkbooks is a lot of effort.  Then you also have to worry if you keep you garage door opener in the car, because that makes the interior of your home vulnerable also.

Due to all the budget cuts and staff shortages, an officer will not respond after an auto-burglary or petty theft unless it is a grand theft or there is a known suspect.  (How do we know whether it is a grand theft or a known suspect? ed.)

The detectives with the Santa Cruz Police Department did solve at least one of the previous burglaries on the 400 block of Isbel.  That defendant pleaded not guilty, even thought his face was clearly visible on the security footage the police have.  Automatic security lights did not deter him either.  That the judge "OR'd " ("own recognizance") him seems pretty lenient.  He will probably be back to our neighborhood, if he hasn't already been.  He is a local well known to the PD.  So, it is up to us to protect our neighborhood by being vigilant and reporting anything that is suspicious by calling 911.

Our friends in Pasatiempo are also still having trouble.  Someone cut the Hwy. 17 fencing and entered a property, and attempted to enter their home via the locked garage.  Remember, be a creature of habit, and always check your doors and windows before retiring for the night (or leaving your home).  Set your perimeter alarm when retiring. And if your car locks via a remote, always push that "set button" one more time to make sure your car is locked.  Also, don't leave your garage doors up because anyone "casing" the neighborhood can see what you have in the garage that they would like to have as their possession or sell to make their next drug purchase.

If your neighbors don't belong to our e-mail list, please invite them to join.

Donna Rodini tells us that there is an increasing number of reports of suspicious and criminal activity in the neighborhood.

There have been automobile break-ins, thefts of small items, break-ins of sheds and storage buildings, and fires.  There are also new skid marks on the streets.

Groups of loitering non-residents have been seen, particularly in the Bartlett/Via Hermosa/Monte area.  The police have visited, but because no criminal activities were observed, no actions have yet been taken.

A similar increase in disturbing activities has been occurring in the Pasatiempo area.

The Santa Cruz police say they will be increasing their patrols.  If you see bright lights shining in your yard or windows during the night, do not go outside, as it will probably be the police department, and they have either received a prowler call, or they have spotted something while on patrol.  They will not come into your yard without a phone call to your home by dispatch.  They may also park their patrol cars down the street and walk back if there is more than one officer.

We all need to be alert and call 911 if we see anything that deserves investigation or intervention.

Contact Donna for more details.

2:35 a.m. Wednesday, June 22, 2011

This morning at approximately 2:35 am, auto burglars struck our neighborhood again.  They went up private drive in the 400 block of Isbel, where they found an unlocked vehicle and cleaned it out.  The value of the items taken make this crime a felony, not your usual misdemeanor.  Fortunately the victim family had security cameras and police are now in possession of the pictures of the perpetrators.

Santa Cruz Neighbors has a suggestion list from the SC Police to prevent auto burglaries.  On the home page, under what's new on the website, click on auto burglary prevention.  Remember that something as simple as a phone charger cord suggests that there might be a cell phone or ipod under the seat or elsewhere in the car.

Our friends in Pasatiempo were hard hit last week with at least 10 auto burglaries.  And there was a report, by a resident in the condos at the top of Isbel Drive, of an older white pickup truck with a black stripe, that was cruising around the neighborhood.  The occupants reportedly had their faces covered.  We are working on more details.

The main point: call 911 with any suspicious activity such as vehicles that are slowly cruising the streets, dropping off people and staying in the area.  We have to look out for one another.

Donna Rodoni

I'm sure by now that everyone has heard about the two fires that occurred on Monday, June 13th.  The cause of the fires was bottle rockets.  The two fires were reported by residents on Via Hermosa and the 400 block of Carbonera Drive.  The fires were reported 35 minutes apart and of course had the same cause.  In speaking with Santa Cruz Fire and Branciforte Fire Department officials, I learned that a car was seen leaving the area of the first fire, on the Haas property on Barlett, so the fire probably was not caused by local kids with fireworks.  Chief O'Connell, Branciforte Fire, told me there is the possibility that these two fires are connected to other wildland fires in the county.  He requested our assistance in insuring our neighborhood safety.  First, be alert to who is in our neighborhood, and whether they belong here, especially if they are wandering around in the wooded or grasslands areas.  If things look suspicious, don't confront them but do call 911, who will dispatch law enforcement or fire officials to check it out.  Second, if you property abuts the wildland areas, remove brush and dry grass.  I have booklets with additional information available.

Our neighborhood is in a rather unique situation.  We are in the city and serviced by Santa Cruz Fire, but are surrounded by properties that are serviced by Scotts Valley Fire (El Rancho Drive side of the neighborhood), Branciforte and Cal-Fire (the Haas property and Branciforte Drive past the city limits 2 blocks past Goss).  All agencies responded on Monday except Cal-Fire, and they did a great job.  Chief O'Connell said the situation probably would not have had such a positive result if it had been 1-2 months later.  With all the late rain, the vegetation growth is enormous, and drying out.  Had there been wind on Monday the fire would not have been limited to such small areas.  Given the direction of our winds, it would have traveled straight up the hill from Barlett, endangering first Nanna Court, and then possibly the whole neighborhood.

Chief O'Connell is working with County officials to force action by the property owner to eliminate the hazard posed by the Haas property.  Two years ago the Chief secured a grant that allowed them to enter the property and do some remediation, but that grant is not available now.  We know the wheels turn slowly when working with the government, but Chief O'Connell understands our situation and will stay on top of things.

If you have new neighbors who are not a part of our neighborhood alert program, please forward this message to them so they will be in the loop for bulletins and neighborhood meetings and events.

On June 7th, 2011, we attended "the Mayor's Academy" at the City Council Chambers.

Santa Cruz Statistics

Mayor Coonerty shared some statistics about Santa Cruz as of 2010:

• Our population is 59,946.
• Our median household income is $63,201
• 39% of our population is 25 - 44 years old, 26% is 45 - 64 years old, 13% is 65+, and 22% is 24 and under

Revenue Drivers

Sales tax drives the city's financial health, and is far more important to revenue than property taxes, utilities user tax, and the transient occupancy tax.  Interestingly, Costco contributes two times the sales tax revenue of all the downtown businesses combined.  Mayor Coonerty explained that most California cities have strong incentives to build strip malls and bring in "big box" retail stores as this provides so much sales tax revenue.  However, that is not necessarily the best thing for the residents of the city.  In this sense, the city manager's goal is not necessarily aligned with the city residents' goals.

City Council Members, Mayor, City Manager

City Council members are "at large", meaning that they do not represent any particular city neighborhood.  They are elected for a four year term.  They can serve for two consecutive terms, and then they are off for two years.  After two years off, they can run again.

The top two vote getters rotate to become mayor.

City council members serve on 20 or so committees.

Top Five Issues Facing the City

1. City Finances:  Since July 2002, social services have been cut by 47%
2. Overall Economy
3. Public Safety (college students and tourists pose special challenges)
4. UCSC
5. Emergency Water Supply

Mayor Coonerty is on a special mission to persuade Apple to put an Apple Store in downtown Santa Cruz.