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So let me get this straight, the Santa Cruz City Council is creating an ordinance to penalize building owners downtown for vacant properties that are caused entirely by the city council’s actions?
The overwhelming message from business shutting down or moving out of downtown is they are doing so because of rampant crime, drug use and general lack of law enforcement and not holding individuals who break the law accountable. This is a direct result of the actions (or inactions) of the city council and their policies of no meaningful enforcement of laws that are on the books. If the city council operated in reality they would be compensating building owners for lost income due to the vacancies caused by the council’s misguided policies. I hope the building owners can come together and take the city council to court and win over this out-of-touch ordinance.
Brent Ruhne
Santa Cruz