Santa Cruz City Council approved the city’s budget at their Tuesday meeting. The total cost of the budget is $78 million. The problem, though, is that the budget still has a $2.2 million deficit, meaning that the city may yet have to dip into its emergency reserves. City Council members tried to allay these concerns, calling the budget an “evolving document.”
At the same meeting, City Council voted to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to sell marijuana on Sundays. In an effort to crack down on drug deals and prostitution, they also passed a new ordinance requiring hotel clerks to verify the identities of anyone renting a room. The impetus for the bill was the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old at a Beach Hill motel in 2008. A 14-year old girl had rented the room with a fake ID.
Hotel owners question whether the new ordinance will really help to prevent crime. They do not want the police to independently examine their guest registries, as would be allowed by the new law. “I’m selling privacy here, “ says Anish Gardani, owner of the El View Lodge. Last month police seized methamphetamines valued at $11,000 at the hotel, but Gardani claims that even under the new regulations, the drug deal could not have been prevented.
