Former Santa Cruz mayor Don Lane pushes back on Keven Cook’s recent commentary, arguing that Cook misrepresents the origins and intent of Measure C and ignores the coalition that created it. He points to Santa Cruz’s affordable housing record and rejects claims that the city misuses housing funds.
Don Lane
Don Lane is a former mayor of Santa Cruz. He serves on the governing boards of Housing Santa Cruz County and Housing Matters and has been a homeowner for 40 years.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Yes on Santa Cruz’s Measure C: Let’s not let the perfect be the enemy of the good
OPINION: Measure C might not be perfect, but it will create needed affordable housing in Santa Cruz, writes former Santa Cruz mayor and housing advocate Don Lane. He refutes a recent op-ed by resident Keven Cook questioning loopholes in the measure and encourages the community to support it.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
A Santa Cruz affordable housing primer – and why Measure C makes sense
Santa Cruz is on track to add nearly 900 truly affordable apartments — well short of what’s needed for teachers, servers, health care workers and longtime unhoused neighbors, writes housing advocate and former Santa Cruz mayor Don Lane. He advocates for Measure C on the November ballot.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Let’s stick to facts when we talk about our unhoused problem
Don Lane, former Santa Cruz mayor and a longtime community housing advocate, takes issue with a recent Lookout op-ed on the unhoused. Lane acknowledges some points but pushes back on many of the underlying assumptions, particularly that the city is a “magnet” for people from other places seeking housing.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Finger-pointing at Coral Street – here’s why a homeless encampment lasted for so long in Santa Cruz
An encampment of about 40 to 60 people popped up on Coral Street in the spring and lasted for months before Santa Cruz police cleared it. Why did it take so long? Housing activist and former Santa Cruz mayor Don Lane unpacks the complex reasons.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
No on Measure M: Let’s not make it harder to build affordable housing
Santa Cruz – like all cities in California – is required to plan for thousands of units of housing: If we make it harder to go higher and denser downtown, builders will look to other areas – closer to other neighborhoods – to put multistory apartments.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Propaganda or propaganda? Yet another response to Santa Cruz’s dangerous and senseless ballot Measure M
“If you run around crying ‘fire’ through the neighborhood after the fire department has already put out the fire, you are probably unnecessarily scaring people. One might even call that a ‘scare tactic,’” Don Lane writes in his latest piece decrying the upcoming Santa Cruz ballot initiative Measure M and refuting its chief proponent, Frank Barron, a retired environmental planner.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Who’s telling an accurate story on Santa Cruz’s Measure M?
Measure M, the March ballot initiative on building height in the city of Santa Cruz, is already causing much debate. Don Lane, who is against the initiative, here refutes a recent Lookout piece by Measure M supporter Frank Barron. “The difference between Mr. Barron’s commentary and ours is that ours is based on verifiable facts and his is based on declarations not grounded in facts,” Lane writes. Voters will decide the ballot initiative’s fate on March 5.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Homelessness 102: Santa Cruz County needs to spend more on emergency response
In the second of two pieces on homelessness, housing activist and former Santa Cruz mayor Don Lane breaks down the differences in the way the City of Santa Cruz thinks about housing people and how the county does. “The city puts much more emphasis on interim shelter,” he writes, “… and spends several million dollars per year here. I believe the county ought to match the city’s commitment.”
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Homelessness won’t simply go away; here are three possible approaches for Santa Cruz
Homelessness is California’s biggest crisis and a problem Santa Cruz County cannot seem to get a handle on, as hard as it tries. Don Lane, former Santa Cruz mayor turned housing advocate, offers three options and explains the benefits and drawbacks of each. If you are looking to understand this tangled issue quickly, this is your chance. Next week, he’ll focus on solutions and explain how Santa Cruz — city and county — are tackling the issue.