Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin is worried about planning for SoLa, the south of Laurel Street area the City of Santa Cruz hopes will blossom into a thriving entertainment district. Without clear funding strategies and transit solutions, rushing forward risks repeating past planning missteps, he writes.
Mike Rotkin
Mike Rotkin is a former five-time mayor of the City of Santa Cruz. He serves on the Regional Transportation Commission and the Santa Cruz Metro Transit board and teaches local politics and history classes at UC Santa Cruz.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz’s moral fight over the property sales transfer tax – be sure to pick your side wisely
Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin comes out against an affordable housing proposal put forth by realtors to rival one proposed by local activists, saying it is an attempt to confuse voters and subvert the democratic process. It’s not about creating housing, he says. He calls on Santa Cruzans to channel the energy used to beat back Big Cola last November to reject this initiative. Signatures on the petitions for the rival initiatives are due May 9. They need 3,620 signatures to qualify for the November ballot in the city.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
What is the Regional Transportation Commission’s plan for the rail and trail?
Lookout columnist and former Santa Cruz mayor Mike Rotkin answers questions about the $1 billion price tag attached to a portion of the county’s rail trail project. Some people have balked at the number and used it to double down on a continuing argument that the train is too expensive and infeasible. Here, Rotkin counters, insisting future Santa Cruz County residents will need a train, that the money is not coming from taxes or local government and that giving up now would mean having to pay back a lot of state and federal money already spent. So far, he says, the state and federal government continue to show support for the rail project.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I support a proposed tax measure for the city of Santa Cruz in November
Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin supports a tax measure championed by Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley that is gathering signatures for the November ballot. Here, he unpacks the two tax proposals and how they will benefit the community.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Fire insurance – it’s getting harder to get, and keep, even in urban areas of Santa Cruz County
It’s getting tougher for Californians to get and keep fire insurance, writes Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin, and it’s not just people living in fire-prone, forested areas like Bonny Doon and the Santa Cruz Mountains. “People living in downtown Santa Cruz and on the Westside and Eastside have recently been shocked to discover that they need to find a new home insurance company – and that they need to do so in a hurry,” he writes.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz Metro and I owe Lookout readers and Metro riders an apology
The exciting, new transportation services planned by Santa Cruz Metro are not happening, at least not yet, writes Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin. The plans included 15-minute service time on major routes, bus-priority traffic signals and more. But the poor state of the current fleet makes the timeline impossible until at least summer, when 53 hydrogen-fueled buses Metro purchased in September 2023 are due to arrive. That is reduced from the planned 57, due to costs. Metro apologized for the delay at a December meeting of the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission meeting, but Rotkin thinks the board, of which he is a member, should have seen this problem coming and asked better questions.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The city and county now have diverse representatives – we got here through equal opportunity, not quotas
Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin supports diversity in city and county government, but not quotas. Here, he walks us through our own community’s history with this divisive topic and says other communities can learn from Santa Cruz County’s successes.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Sugar tax passes: Why I’m not surprised
Measure Z, the sugary drink tax, which adds a tax of 2 cents per ounce on distributors of sugar-sweetened beverages in the city of Santa Cruz, has passed. Mike Rotkin, Lookout politics columnist, isn’t surprised, despite the $2 million the American Beverage Association spent against it. He writes that Santa Cruz is a community primed to fight.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
More than a little too sweet: Vote yes on Measure Z
Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin is voting yes on Measure Z, the sugary drink tax. He says community health and long-term benefit are the deciding factors.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz County’s local tax and bond measures all deserve support
Lookout politics columnist Mike Rotkin endorses all 13 of the local taxes and bonds on the ballot on Nov. 5. No one loves paying, he writes, but the combination of 1978’s Proposition 13 and the current tax structure that gives breaks to corporations at the expense of homeowners is to blame. Local cities need more money to provide services, he writes.