1K In Santa Cruz County Call On Officials To Address Racism

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — More than 1,000 people had signed a petition as of Monday afternoon calling on local officials to combat racism in the wake of the vandalism of Santa Cruz's Black Lives Matter mural.

A petition on Change.org reiterated calls for officials to investigate possible hate groups, mandate anti-racist education and build a pipeline to ensure people of color are represented as elected officials at every level of government in Santa Cruz County.

Petitioners endorsed a statement previously issued by the Santa Cruz County Black Coalition for Justice and Racial Equity, Santa Cruz County Black Health Matters Initiative, the NAACP Santa Cruz County branch, Black Kings of Santa Cruz County and Santa Cruz Equity Collab.

The statement was addressed to Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosell, Santa Cruz City Attorney Anthony Condotti, U.S. Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors and the Santa Cruz City Council.

Black-led organizations called on prosecutors to "use the full capacity of the law to punish those who perpetrated the destruction" of the Black Lives Matter mural in the 800 block of Center Street in downtown Santa Cruz. The privately funded mural was approved last year by the Santa Cruz City Council after George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer.

Brandon Bochat, 20, of Santa Cruz and Hagan Warner, 19, of Boulder Creek were charged in the vandalism and are facing a hate crime enhancement, which could increase a possible punishment. Both men pleaded not guilty last week and denied the hate crime enhancement. Neither remained in Santa Cruz County Jail.

"These types of destructive, aggressive, and provocative acts serve only to heighten the social anxiety existing in the racially charged atmosphere of our country," the Black-led organizations said. "The men who defaced the mural acted brazenly and intentionally, as evidenced by their filming the destruction of public property. ... Our community has to work diligently to look to our community allies and leaders who can assure us that this kind of directed act of hate is intolerable and has no place in our city, county, and country."

Residents across Santa Cruz County signed the petition endorsing the statement. The petition was organized by Debra Feldstein, Ceres Group Advisors founder and managing partner and a Tannery World Dance and Cultural Center board member. She sent the petition to local officials Monday afternoon, after the petition passed the 1,000-signature mark.

"We have heard our community leaders speak about the multitude of competing priorities that need to be 'balanced' when allocating resources to ensure public safety and equity for our Black community members," the petition said. "We understand that there is a lot of need and limited resources. However, after 400 years of persecution and discrimination because of the color of their skin, now is the time to center on the human and civil rights of the Black community. As history has proven, 'none of us is free until all of us are free.'"

The original petition signatories included local leaders such as Aptos' Temple Beth El Rabbi Paula Marcus, Integrated Capital Investing Principal Jennifer Astone, Santa Cruz Relief co-founder Michelle Bernabei, Santa Cruz Democratic Party Chair Andrew Goldenkranz, Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History Executive Director Robb Woulfe and former Santa Cruz Diversity Center Executive Director Sharon Papo.

The petition was posted late last week, around the same time that Santa Cruz Mayor Donna Meyers and Vice Mayor Sonja Brunner issued a statement affirming the city's comittment to "continuing to take meaningful action against racism and discrimination."

They condemned racism, discrimination, ethnic oppression and racist actions against Santa Cruz residents, on behalf of the City Council. Meyers and Brunner added that city officials previously declared racism a public health crisis.

"We are directing these commitments to be infused throughout the City’s forthcoming Health in All Policies work plan, which will serve as our integrated roadmap toward a more healthy, equitable, and sustainable Santa Cruz," they said in a statement. "Through our policies, programs, and practices, we will ensure that our City is a safe and welcoming place for everyone.”

— Bay City News contributed to this report

Read more: 2 Men Accused Of Hate Crime In Black Lives Matter Mural Vandalism