User:Kelseyferrell/sandbox

Kelsey's Sandbox

Hello it is I typing into the void

Selecting Possible Articles

Global/Area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz,_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watsonville,_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_city

Sectors/Methods: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_theft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undocumented_youth_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driscoll%27s

Evaluating Two Articles

Article 1: Watsonville (area)

- has a section on economy and workforce, but the citation goes to a city website not an article, and the city website doesn't have the info the citation was citing

- climate article could have more connection to the agricultural economy and how it is made possible

- the sea water encroachment problem of SC could be mentioned here too as it's a crisis that effects the agriculture industry in Santa Cruz County

- calls itself sanctuary city, but this section only has one sentence. More could be added here.

- talk page has nothing but links to other projects, such as "WikiProject California" and "WikiProject Cities" that claim Watsonville's page needs more info in relation to larger institutions

- Rated "start class" and of "mid importance" (i.e. probably a good article to edit?)

Article 2: Wage Theft (sectors and methods)

- definitions of the different ways employers underpay workers

-details how different sectors of jobs experience more wage theft than others

-notes that undocumented people are particular targets of wage theft

-could use links/ connections to how this effects farm laborers (or at least is worth investigating, even if not significant)

-contemporary examples page could be longer

- talk page complains that page is heavily biased towards U.S. incidences of wage theft

- debates about whether wage gap, discouragement from worker's comp and other workplace violations count as "wage theft"

-listed as "WikiProject Economics," "WikiProject Organized Labor," and "WikiProject United States"

- Levels are "start-class" for every wiki project

Bibliography

(AREA) Investigates the connection of Santa Cruz’s housing market to the experience of inequality in Santa Cruz county. Also talks about the role of community, which is particularly relevant to my practice experience.

(SECTOR/AREA) This piece is about the issue of housing agricultural workers. It proposes solutions for affordable houses via state and union intervention. Given that Santa Cruz has a high amount of agricultural workers in Watsonville, and many of the people in my practice experience will fall into this category, this article seems relevant as it explains proposals for California's labor market as a whole.

(AREA) This piece is about the emerging market of AirBnBs in Santa Cruz, an issue that is affecting the already strained rental market. Given that the population I work with are low income renters, I think this is important context for the housing strain these individuals feel, and thus the relevance of needing living wages.

(SECTOR) Highlights the problems of the food service industry, especially the intersection between immigrant workers and workers in this sector. This is relevant because a large number of the people I’ll be working with are in the food service sector and immigrants. Thus how workplace violations affect this population is necessary information.

(AREA/SECTOR) Interesting historical example of community organizing in Watsonville that was successful for Mexican American workers. Provides context for current labor battles and what strategies might work. A case with potential to set a precedent for current/future labor rights activism.

(SECTOR) Profiles examples of immigrant workers fighting for their rights. Shows strategies that were successful, and landmark cases that are models for people in the labor movement. Relevant to my practice experience as many of the people I’ll be serving are working for the same things. Examples of worker resistance that have been effective are relevant for all wikipedia articles about workers’ rights.

(AREA) Report on homelessness and anti-homelessness legislation. Particularly evidences Santa Cruz City and County.

(AREA) Labor statistics, used ot look up data on Santa Cruz City and County.

(AREA) UCSC's project and data on housing in Santa Cruz County.

(AREA) This report investigates homelessness and the perception of homeless individuals, using Santa Cruz County as an in depth example.

(AREA) This report looks into how Watsonville specifically splits with Santa Cruz County on land use debates that counter housing and environmental protections.

(SECTOR) Explanation of how short term rental units can harm long term renters and further the housing crisis.

(SECTOR) Information about the intersection of labor law and immigration law.

(SECTOR) Information about the intersection of labor law and immigration law.

(SECTOR) An explanation of the 2013 POWER act, legislation to give undocumented labor protection from deportation.

(SECTOR) This is a cite related to a documentary. It provides information about the intersection between labor rights and law and immigrations rights and law. Primarily, I learned about specific legislation from this source.

Area

Santa Cruz County (also potentially adding to Santa Cruz City, Watsonville City)

Demographics:

The county of Santa Cruz has experienced demographic fluctuations in recent history. Between 1990 and 2000, population increased 11.3%. This is primarily not because of immigration or migration, but because of new births.

In 1980, Santa Cruz county was 21% latino, which rose to 28% in 1990 and 39% in 2000. The area between Watsonville in south Santa Cruz County and Salinas Valley of northern Monterey County is primarily latino.

Economy:

In the 19th century, Santa Cruz's economy was based on milling lumber, making lime cement from limestone, and tanning leather. By the mid 19th century, Santa Cruz was the second largest manufacturing area in the state. As natural resources depleted, tourism became the more important economic sector in the area.

In 1989, Santa Cruz was named as a surplus labor area by the U.S. Department of Labor. A surplus labor area has an unemployment rate 20% higher than national unemployment. As of 2018, Santa Cruz City and Watsonville city are still on this list.

10% of jobs in Santa Cruz County are food producing/processing jobs. These employees make less than an average of $10 a day.

As of 2003, 21% of residents work outside of Santa Cruz County. This is down form the 28% outside employment rate of 1989.

The agriculture businesses are significant enough to be prominent in local politics, where they influence issues of water, pesticide use, and labor.

There are mandated living wages for Santa Cruz county, and individually in the cities of Watsonville and Santa Cruz. These occurred after The Santa Cruz Living Wage Coalition campaigned to set up ordinances.

The low wage sector of Santa Cruz experiences workplace abuse. Data from 2015 show that in the county, 38% of Agricultural workers have experienced overtime pay violation, 14% of tipped workers reported tips stolen by their employers, and 50% of service sector workers reported violations on receiving breaks. It is California law for employers to make written workplace policies available. However, in a county wide survey, 30% of workers reported that they did not receive an employee handbook.

Homelessness:

2017 data shows that Santa Cruz has 2,249 homeless individuals, up 14.5% from 2015 counts. Of this population, 55% report having a disability. 31% are employed. 59% have been in Santa Cruz for 10 years or more. 67% reported having experienced homelessness before. In a 2015 survey that included Monterey County, San Benito County, Santa Clara County, San Jose, Marin County, Sonoma County, Solano County, and the City/County of San Francisco, Santa Cruz was found to exceed the average rates of substance abuse, physical disability, psychiatric condition, and traumatic brain injury amongst homeless people in the region. Santa Cruz also had the highest population of homeless youth (individuals under 18).

Out of similarly sized cities, Santa Cruz has the highest homelessness rate in the country. 84% of homeless people surveyed in Santa Cruz said they had been Santa Cruz residents when they became homeless. However, interview data shows that common public perception of homelessness in Santa Cruz is that homeless individuals are "outsiders," and that housed citizens, who frame themselves as "legitimate" members of the public, are being overrun in public spaces. The concept that outsiders are the main contributors to homelessness has been echoed in political positions too, as many local leaders have expressed that not being strict with the homeless community would draw homeless people to Santa Cruz and exacerbate the homeless population. However, as of a 1995 report, there was no research to suggest that homeless people move for benefits.

At one point, Mayor Scott Kennedy requested money from The Grateful Dead to deal with Santa Cruz's homeless population, as he believed that the majority of homeless people in Santa Cruz were "Dead Heads."

There is also a correlation of homeless policy changing after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, as the disaster led to a reevaluation of housing needs. In a 1990 survey by the Short Term Housing Coalition of Santa Cruz, 73.5% of homeless individuals claimed that they became homeless after the earthquake. The Earthquake allowed for "high speed gentrification" as Santa Cruz rebuilt, and homelessness also increased during this period. In some senses, the earthquake reframed the local concept of homelessness, as this period's data collection focused on those homeless because of the earthquake, and those homeless from other circumstances were not addressed. Many called for a state of emergency to address the housing crisis following the earthquake, but in 1994 when homelessness rates were even higher at an estimated population of 2000-3000 homeless individuals, there was no similar demand for a status of emergency. Some decisions made in the rebuilding process were intended to work against the homeless population, such as designing the new downtown area to have less outdoor seating, in hopes that it would discourage homeless people from congregating there.

2015 data shows that 18% of Santa Cruz homeless individuals are sheltered in emergency or transitional housing, while the remaining 82% live in the streets, in cars, abandoned buildings or camps.

Santa Cruz passed many anti-homeless laws, the most extreme laws reported to have been passed in 1994. These laws were opposed by the ACLU and named in a 1995 report as some of the strictest anti-homeless laws in the nation.The following laws in Santa Cruz are especially pertinent to the homeless community :

• it is illegal in Santa Cruz to sit on a sidewalk within 14 feet of a building
• it is illegal to lie on a public sidewalk
• it is illegal to lie on a bench
• it is illegal to sit on a bench for more than an hour
• it is illegal to sleep outdoors or in a vehicle
• it is illegal to cover oneself with a blanket in public
• it is illegal to tell a lie while asking for money

Breaking these laws leads to cited infractions of the individual, which can accumulate into a misdemeanor, which is punished by fines and/or arrest. In Santa Cuz City, in 2012, 40% of arrests and 30% of citations were made to homeless people.

Because the majority of homeless individuals are not sheltered, and their homelessness is visible, it has become a significantly debated issue in the county which relies heavily on tourism and thus its own image. The 2013 Public Safety Citizen Task Force Report claimed that homelessness, particularly in downtown Santa Cruz, was an issue because it contributed "erratic behaviors, trash, sleeping materials and human waste" to the area which was claimed by the group to be an "aversion" for visitors and customers of local businesses. In 2016, the department of Public Works reported that they removed about 100 tons of debris from campsites in public parks and spaces, and 54 tons from the streets. Public Works claims that their department spends $440,000 a year on frontline issues of homelessness.

In 2016, the Public Works department also noted an increase in a aggressive behaviors of the homeless population,citing increased incidents of assault, threats and harassment towards their staff.

Multiple public service departments report that they spend the majority of their time responding to homelessness. Park rangers spend 50-60% of their time addressing homelessness related problems, with the parks department spending $780,000 a year. Similarly, the Police Department claims that 60% of officer time is spent on responding to calls-for-service that are related to homeless activity and transiency. This costs the Police Department $14.8 million a year.

Homelessness in Santa Cruz occurs in tandem with a larger housing crisis, as the housing market in Santa Cruz County is competitive between short stay apartments, UCSC students, and Silicon Valley Workers. Currently, Santa Cruz is the most unaffordable place to live in the country.

Housing Market:

In 2002, the National Association of Realtors reported that Santa Cruz was the most unaffordable place to live in the United States. This statement remains true with 2017 data that shows that Santa Cruz is the least affordable county for renters.

In Santa Cruz County, 60% of residents rent and a median monthly rent is $3000. UCSC's No Place Like Home Project reports that in Santa Cruz County, 2.5 minimum wage jobs would be needed to afford renting a 2 bedroom apartment. UCSC's "No Place Like Home" project identifies four main rental markets: agricultural workers, UCSC students, Silicon Valley tech workers, and short term vacation rentals. Short term rentals in particular have been a rising concern to local politicians, who have proposed parking restrictions to discourage short term renters.

Rent control has been attempted as a policy in Santa Cruz three times between the 1970's and 1980's, but it never passed. National policies since the 1980's have deregulated rental markets, which decreased the rights of tenants and exacerbated frustrations for renters all across the country as well as in Santa Cruz.

27% of surveyed Santa Cruz County renters experience "overcrowding" in their homes, which is described as when there is more than one person per room of a house, which includes all rooms not just bedrooms.

One of the constraints on Santa Cruz's development are environmental protections. The restrictions on land prevent development from responding to housing and employment demands, which is an issue particularly politically relevant in the Watsonville jurisdiction. This conflict between residents wanting to protect the environment and those wanting more housing is also racially divided, as most residents favoring environmental protection are white, while the population on the side of developing housing is more heavily latino. A 2010-2011 report by a Santa Cruz County grand jury states that Watsonville had no policy for assessing environmental hazards, and would give out land use and building permits without any investigations of the environmental conditions of the land in question.

One of the housing solutions that residents have resorted to is the occupation of accessory dwelling units. Commonly known as "mother-in-law" units, these secondary housing spaces on residential property used to be illegal to build. In 2002, Santa Cruz leaders changed the law and encouraged construction with affordable mortgages. The goal was to contain urban sprawl while still finding housing alternatives for residents in light of the crisis that was exacerbated by UCSC growth and Silicon Valley encroachment.

Land Use:

Debates about land use in Santa Cruz were particularly important after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, which destroyed the central business district of Santa Cruz. This event led to the loss of an estimated 2,000 jobs.

Already contentious debates about land were present in the area due to its large tourism industry and the relatively new UCSC campus, but after the quake both private interests and public servants had a stake in how rebuilding would go. This led to a necessary compromise, a public-private partnership that debated the how to rebuild the pacific garden mall space, with considerations of green space, timely implementation, and supporting local business and economy. Many constituents felt left out of this process, and reported that the political elite and economic elite were monopolizing control over the rebuilding movement.

Government:

The city of Santa Cruz passed an updated sanctuary city ordinance on February 28th, 2017.

Area: Watsonville City

Workforce:

In 1985, cannery workers in Watsonville went on strike for 18 months to protest a decrease in their wages and benefits. In the end, they won a new contract. The movement was led by primarily Latina Women and was noted as a historic labor rights win for the Mexicano/Chicano community

Law and Government:

Watsonville became a sanctuary city on April 11th, 2017.

Sector

Homelessness: Considering adding a section here, to move some info away from Santa Cruz page and into general space. Waiting on responses on talk pages to decide how to proceed.

Anti-homelessness Legislation

Perceptions of Homelessness and Policy Implications

Homeless people have a higher incidence of sickness, with their most common health problem being skin problems. Homeless people also have a lack of access to sanitation, leading to poor hygiene. These characteristics are noticeable and trigger reactions of disgust from onlookers who are inclined, at an evolutionary level, to be pathogen averse. This leads to people wanting to keep their physical distance from homeless people.

Clifford and Piston argue that this psychological response to homelessness leads to exclusionary policies, exemplified by the fact that while the majority of the public supports subsidized housing for homeless individuals, they don't want that housing in their neighborhoods.

But the public also maintains concern for the homeless, supporting increases in federal spending on homelessness programs. In fact, when surveyed, the public supports spending on homelessness over other social problems by consistently putting the homeless in the top third of their spending priorities.

Respondents to surveys also feel that 55% of of homeless people are addicted to drugs or alcohol, and that 45% of homeless people have been to jail before. The majority of U.S. residents surveyed also think that homeless people make neighborhood worse, and that their presence brings down the profitability of local businesses.

Short Term Rental Units

Short term rentals are properties that function like hotels by renting out space on a nightly basis, only holding people for less than a month at a time. They are promoted and made possible by companies like Airbnb, VRBO, and HomeAway. The proliferation of short term rentals can affect those in the area who are looking for long term rentals. Through short term rental, landlords can make upwards of 20% more than they would on a rent controlled property. Thus landlords convert their properties into short term rental units, and there are less long term housing options available to permanent residents. Landlords also sometimes pressure and coerce people out of their homes, particularly if residents are low income. One of the effects of this is that diversity in the neighborhood decreases as no one can move in anymore. On neighborhood community group voices concern that these temporary residents do not have a stake in the community and therefore are less likely to be conscientious about how their behavior effects those around them.

Short term rental properties place the responsibility of following zoning and municipal requirements onto residents using short term rental services like Airbnb. This leads to illegal short term rentals that violate many of these codes. Fire codes, safety codes, workers' benefits, and transient occupancy taxes are often avoided by illegal short term rentals.

However, not all short term rental units are illegal, which poses a policy challenge to local lawmakers who have to find a way to mitigate the problems that hey cause for permanent residents. For example, in Santa Cruz, CA, local supervisors have discussed parking restrictions in the areas where short-term rentals are, in order to discourage people from staying there and prioritize the local residents' ability to park.

Labor Law and Undocumented Persons

The National Labor Relations Act recognizes undocumented laborers as employees. However, the supreme court case Hoffman Plastic Compounds Inc. Vs. NLRB established that backpay could not be awarded to unlawfully fired undocumented employees due to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. In this court decision, it was also stated that the U.S. would support FLSA and MSPA, without regard to whether or not someone is documented. Undocumented workers also still have legal protection against discrimination based on national origin. The decision of the Hoffman supreme court case primarily has affected undocumented laborers by preventing them from getting backpay and/or reinstatement.

While no undocumented individual is technically able to work in the United States legally, undocumented folks make up 5% of the workforce. In the U.S., people who were born outside of the country tend to work in riskier jobs and have a higher chance of encountering death on the job. The low wage sectors, which many undocumented folks work in, have the highest rates of wage and hour violation. Estimates claim that 31% of undocumented people work in service jobs. Restaurant work in particular has a 12% rate of undocumented workers.

Undocumented people can and have joined labor unions, and are even credited by a 2008 dissertation for "reinvigorating" the labor movement. Because the NLRA protects undocumented workers, it protects their right to organize. However the NLRA excludes workers that are agricultural, domestic, independent contractors, governmental, or related to their employers. The right to speak up against labor abuses was protected further by an immigration reform bill in 2013 with the POWER act, which intended to protect employees who spoke out against labor practices from facing detention or deportation.

However, labor unions are not necessarily welcoming of immigrant workers. Within unions, there have been internal struggles, such as when Los Angeles immigrant janitors reorganized service workers. Being a part of the union does not necessarily address all the needs of immigrant workers, and thus wining power within the union is the first step for immigrant workers to address their needs.

Immigrant workers often mobilize beyond unions, by campaigning in their communities on intersectional issues of immigration, discrimination, and police misconduct.

Gentrification of San Francisco

Gentrification of Greater Bay Area Region

Silicon Valley's technological rise has also led to gentrification of the broader bay area. This includes East Palo Alto, where Hispanic and African-Americans have begun to move out in face of rising costs. Burlingame, Mountain View, San Jose, and Santa Clara are also affected by Silicon Valley's growth, as the region has no defined bounds and continues to proliferate along the central coast.

Restaurant

Employment

The restaurant industry in the United States is large and quickly growing, with 10 million workers. 1 in every 12 U.S. residents work in the business, and during the 2008 recession, the industry was a anomaly in that it continued to grow. Restaurants are known for having low wages, which they claim are due to thin profit margins of 4-5%. However, comparatively, Walmart has a 1% profit margin.

As a result of these low wages, restaurant employees suffer from three times the poverty rate as other U.S. workers, and use food stamps twice as much.

Restaurants also employ marginalized groups. They are the largest employer of people of color. Restaurants rank as the second largest employer of immigrants. These workers statistically are concentrated in the lowest paying positions in the restaurant industry. In the restaurant industry, 39% of workers earn minimum wage of lower.

My Contributions

Biggest Contributions:

Added a section on homelessness in the Santa Cruz City wikipedia page. However this has gotten deleted. I think I need to read it over and add more secondary sources. But I am having a hard time finding secondary sources. Considering adding multiple primary sources so that they back each other up? Didn't know primary sources weren't allowed and am lost by why the wikipedia expert doesn't want me to use them (isn't just raw data and my conclusions, drawn from fully analyzed reports with evidence supporting claims. I kind of have headache trying to understand, just want this info on there). Convos on talk pages to consider how to proceed.

While I do believe that Santa Cruz needs a homelessness section, and I will continue to try to put an acceptable piece of work forward, I wonder if some of what I've found would do better on a page about homelessness or anti-homeless legislation in general. Going to look through pages and find if there is a better fit.

Added a section on the housing market in the Santa Cruz County page.

Smaller Edits:

Added to the demographics and economy sections of the Santa Cruz County page.

Added to the description of Short stay apartments page.

Added a section on undocumented labor and subsection of undocumented labor in the U.S. in the labor rights issues section of the labor rights page. Also organized this section with more helpful subheadings. I do feel like this page in general could use more cleaning up, I am dubious of other users' edits/don't like the organization. Seems risky to do a whole over haul when I can't think of a better alternative to current structure.

Added section on restaurant employment in the U.S., one of the lowest paid industries with the highest number of POC and 2nd highest amount of immigrants.