“This blog article was submitted to TBSC by Tom T., a community member who walks the walk and gets it done! Tom and his family believe that keeping our city and county clean is everyone’s job. See something Do Something …interested in submitting a blog article for our page? Contact us here to discuss…..”
As you walk through your neighborhood admiring the glory of spring in your neighbors’ yards it is equally important to stick your nose in places it may have no desire to be.
Take a look around the businesses in your area and you may be horrified at the neglect you find or happily relieved at what good neighbors they are proving to be.
If you walk by a franchise or corporation and see the same trash lying on their property for days or weeks you can easily go to their website and enter a comment. Make it something like, “If you can’t get your staff to keep their property clean please GET OUT of Santa Cruz and do not come back. The tattoo parlor next door is cleaner than your restaurant!” Keep it simple but firm. Be sure to give the accurate location and any contact information you may have for the management. If it is too hard for them to act upon the comment … they won’t.
If you see the same serial inebriates being sold alcohol from the same retailer walk in and kindly ask the staff to stop.
They are already on high alert for underage buyers, shoplifting, and public intoxication. If they know they have the support of neighbors it is easier for them to tell a problem person to get lost and not come back. If it is a corporation go to their website and report the blight they are perpetuating in Santa Cruz and DEMAND that they reprimand the manager for the impropriety if it continues. If it has to escalate you might want to report them to Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) and ask their license to sell alcohol be suspended.
And, most importantly, THANK the clean businesses you find and support them in any way you can.
Walk in and thank them and their staff for helping keep Santa Cruz clean. A smile and a wave when you see them again means a lot. Even if you don’t shop there you might want to buy a gift certificate and give it to a responding police officer the next time you deal with one as an all-around ‘thank you for making Santa Cruz a nicer place to live, work, and play’.
Below are photos of two area businesses that had no idea there were squatters on their property. The evidence was there for all to see … or ignore. It just took someone to notice and send off an email or phone call to have both locations cleaned and locked up again properly. You may have to go above the business management and find out who the property owners are and let those persons know. They will thank you for it and your neighborhood will be a little bit better as a result.
Thank you Tom for helping make Santa Cruz safe and Clean!
Greatly appreciate you being a part of the solution and not making excuses for the problems.
Thanks for your great advice!
Great ideas! One comment regarding the idea of offering a gift certificate to a law enforcement officer… It’s my experience that law enforcement officers are not permitted to accept gifts, even a cup of coffee. I could be wrong.
You are correct, they are not allowed to receive gifts. But a few kind words of appreciation and support really go a long way.
Great article. We need you. Please run for Santa Cruz City Council in this upcoming election. We need your views to represent us.