SANTA CRUZ, Calif.- A long list of violations, including a report that 200 pounds of human feces was found near the Occupy camp over the weekend, has some Santa Cruz protestors admitting its hard to not break the rules.
"We have 100 campers out here and the porta-potties get dirty in like two or three days," said Lawrence MacGregor, an Occupy Santa Cruz protestor. "It's really dirty and I don't want people to start pissing and crapping in the woods."
MacGregor said what the Santa Cruz County health inspectors and city police department said they found last week on their first joint inspection of the Occupy Santa Cruz encampment.
"There weren't too many issues, but there was one toilet for the 100, 150, 200 folks camping out there and we felt that was inadequate," said County Environmental Health Director Bob Kennedy.
Occupy's general assembly voted to have two new porta-potties to address the growing number of people in the camp and are also working on the cleaning conditions for the kitchen.
The county environmental health department didn't do anything about the problems they found except turn them over to the city of Santa Cruz. Remember, the camp in San Lorenzo Park is the city's problem.
But, there is also a growing list the county general services department is keeping. It tracks any health or violence-related incidents in and around the encampment. The county is also sharing that with the city.
"It has an impact on the overall personality of the city as different people come into town throughout the holidays and there is opportunity for the city to improve its financial situation here. We definitely want to put the best foot forward," said Deputy Chief Steve Clark.
The question is now which agency will take the first step to remove the tents and clear the camp for good.
The county Sheriff's department already removed tents from the courthouse steps before, but otherwise told me it's leaving it up to the city. The Santa Cruz police department said it will wait for city council to make a call.
Meanwhile, the tents remain almost a week after the camps permit expired, leaving the camp to still try and solve its own problems.
"A camp is supposed to be looking like a camp, not a pigpen," said MacGregor.
Santa Cruz city council is set to discuss the Occupy encampment at Tuesday's closed session city council meeting.
