SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - You couldn't tell by just looking, but inside the caves along West Cliff Drive, you could find some potentially dangerous things: debris, needles, medical gloves, and drugs.
Lynn Robinson, vice mayor of Santa Cruz, said it's about time something gets done, but it's going to be a challenge.
"The problem is how do you sustain it over the long haul, so that's really where it's a community effort," she said. "If we see a problem and the community knows people are going in there they need to let us know and that's when we can put all of our resources to it on a routine basis."
And that's what she said it takes -- a community effort.
Just one week ago, Save Our Shores, a non-profit organization, stepped up to help and is doing what it calls extreme cleanups.
The group says it will handle the cleanup because it has the expertise and the equipment, and hopes the city will help find some funding through Measure E, the stormwater fee.
City leaders say the community's involvement helps in several ways, including helping to get more eyes on the caves, but they say there's also a financial benefit.
"The long term is getting everyone together in the same room and looking how we can sustain that both environemntally and really resource wise," Robinson said. "That's what's going to keep us in the long run and keep them up."
The city couldn't say how much the effort would cost, but said it plans to do the cleanups in a safe way, and keep the liability issue to a minimum.
If you want to help clean up the cave, the City of Santa Cruz will hold a public safety meeting in January.
Save Our Shores will continue to do extreme cleanups.
