Quick Take
Three weeks after endorsing Measure C, Lookout’s editorial board says its support still stands, but it reiterates the need for city accountability on how it spends tax dollars on affordable housing.
Editor’s note: A Lookout View is the opinion of our Community Voices opinion section, written by Community Voices Editor Jody K. Biehl and Lookout founder Ken Doctor. Our goal is to connect the dots we see in the news and offer a bigger-picture view — all intended to see Santa Cruz County meet the challenges of the day and to shine a light on issues we believe must be on the public agenda. These views are distinct and independent from the work of our newsroom and its reporting.
Three weeks ago, Lookout endorsed the city of Santa Cruz’s Measure C (the Workforce Housing Affordability Act) on the ballot Nov. 4. But, we also issued a challenge to its backers and the city: Show us the money.
We wanted to understand for you, our readers, how the city would use the roughly $4.5 million a year the measure would generate through two new taxes, one a $96 parcel tax and the other a real estate transfer tax on most homes sold for more than $1.8 million.
We now have more answers.
The city says over the past 10 years, it has spent about $14.2 million, including $13.3 million to support affordable housing projects and $862,000 to prevent homelessness. It says the new annual funding would up the ante and allow the city to take a generational leap in helping solve these so far intractable problems.
That’s a good start and Lookout is happy to see this. That’s because a yes vote hinges on the belief that the city is spending our money well – and that more money will help our community move in a direction we think matters and reflects our values.
We think it will.
We believe the funding would be another step forward in addressing affordable housing – our most important community issue.
MORE ON SANTA CRUZ BALLOT MEASURES: Read Lookout’s previous news and Community Voices opinion coverage here
We also think those running the campaign are good people who believe in solving the housing problem. And we believe the city is making a difference on these tough issues, even though the progress is at times invisible. We still see far too many people sleeping on the streets – especially on Coral Street and in downtown Santa Cruz, which often gives the impression the unhoused problem is unchanging.
But, we also recognize now, unlike in years past, the city of Santa Cruz doesn’t have large, unhealthy encampments, and the 2025 point-in-time count showed a 20% reduction in the unhoused population since 2024. That is progress.
We do, however, think the city and the campaign didn’t address these questions early or clear enough for the public. We understand funding structures are complex and follow byzantine, hard-to-track pathways that get cobbled together from state and local funding sources in complex ways.
But the fogginess around how money has and will be spent on affordable housing and homelessness has muddied the campaign’s argument. Those advocating for more tax dollars must be able to clearly explain impact – impact past and intended, if they hope to achieve community consensus – and a majority vote. The city and campaign’s slowness in addressing these questions underscores this issue.
The public deserves more transparency, and Lookout will continue to ask for it if Measure C passes and, if, as the measure stipulates, an oversight board is formed.
Seeing these numbers is vital for community understanding, and we encourage the city to post them on a website and make these complex juggles more apparent to readers. We also encourage them to share these stories with Lookout and other local media and with the public. We want to understand how and where our tax money goes and to help the community see the terrible burdens that affect too many living here.
Some people we’ve spoken to say Measure C is the right idea, but the wrong measure. They say the wording is off, the loopholes are too great, the threshold to pay is too low. We leave that to voters to decide.
For us, given the immediacy of the housing crisis, we continue to favor passage, despite our reservations. We think the Measure C funding will offer a well-needed boost to our local spending coffers and enable the city to offer more vital short-term services to those facing eviction and initiate the long-term work to build more permanent 100% affordable units.
No one likes taxes, but for us, it’s worse to see so many of our community members struggle with housing insecurity. We have to try to help them – long and short term.
We have to be proactive or we will never solve this problem.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.