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To the editor:
I am writing to ask if you would do a piece on Santa Cruz city parks workers.
There are plenty of pieces done about the police and other higher-ups in city government about homelessness. I notice sometimes when something big happens and a city parks worker is involved or even the actual hero, often a police officer or a government official gets all the credit.
The city parks workers have to endure toxicity and violence on a daily basis. They get targeted by the homeless for doing their job and are wrongfully accused for decisions out of their control. All while complaints are rolling in that they don’t clean the parks right or this or that, tit for tat.
The parks workers work for peanuts and are abused by citizens and the homeless for keeping Santa Cruz beautiful. These workers should be paid more generously after what happened in June, when some “unhoused” advocates set the parks yard on fire and destroyed property.
These parks workers keep the city going and can’t even afford to live here. In fact, for parks workers to be able to live here they need at least a 50% raise. Something is not right here.
Parks workers deserve a voice. Be kind to our parks workers — they do keep all of the garbage out of sight so we can continue to enjoy our daily life in this beautiful paradise called Santa Cruz.
Eleanor Lopez-Dominge
Santa Cruz