A unanimous vote was passed by Santa Cruz City Council members to enforce it’s 3-strikes rule against those who ignore citations for municipal code violations. Tonight’s vote comes after the council passed a 3-strikes provision last year making it a misdemeanor to fail to appear in court for 3 or more citations in a 6-month period. The amendment passed today will now enable city officials to file each successive violation as a misdemeanor, which could mean more serious legal consequences and jail time. City officials say the stricter penalty is an effort to deter people from not answering to such infractions as repeated overnight camping, urinating in public or aggressive panhandling.
