As Santa Cruz County faces difficult budget decisions, including using $43 million in reserves to cover deficits, residents have an opportunity to shape what matters most, write three members of advocacy group Care Not Cages. Tamar Ragir, Kathy Lass and Leslie Potenzo argue that protecting healthcare and community support programs is essential to building a safer county. They question why health and human services departments had a decrease of more than 50 positions in the proposed budget while the sheriff’s office and probation face no staff cuts. On Election Day, they remind us to pay attention to county decisions and attend upcoming county budget meetings.
Opinion from Community Voices
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: I support Ami Chen Mills for mayor
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident takes issue with a recent Lookout op-ed on the city’s mayoral race and outlines her support for candidate Ami Chen Mills.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Criteria needed to be applied to candidates for Santa Cruz mayor
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident outlines reasons he feels Ryan Coonerty would be a bad choice as the city’s next mayor.
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What will Watsonville Community Hospital’s next chapter be?
State Sen. John Laird warns that Watsonville Community Hospital is once again facing a financial crisis, with fewer than 10 days of cash on hand. Recently passed emergency legislation will provide $10.6 million in short-term relief to help the hospital stay afloat through July 1, he writes, but it is not a permanent solution. Laird argues that federal funding cuts have reversed years of financial progress and left community hospitals like Watsonville especially vulnerable. The hospital continues to seek a long-term partner to survive.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Tom Steyer says the right things. His record says otherwise.
Rose K. Murphy argues that Tom Steyer’s environmental and economic rhetoric clashes with the investment record of the hedge fund he built at Farallon Capital Management. From water rights fights in Colorado to private prisons and overseas fossil fuel projects, the Watsonville resident writes that Steyer, now running for California governor, has never fully answered for the profits tied to environmental damage and corporate exploitation.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Ryan Coonerty helped bring the Warriors to Santa Cruz – he’s the best pick for mayor
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident lauds Ryan Coonerty for his role in bringing minor league basketball to the city and cites Coonerty’s leadership and experience in backing him in the race for mayor.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Ami Chen Mills: I reject flattened portrayal of Santa Cruz mayoral campaign
In a letter to the editor, Santa Cruz mayoral candidate Ami Chen Mills takes issue with the characterization of the race laid out by the author of a previous Lookout opinion piece.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Santa Cruz’s large mayoral candidate pool offers choice, not obstruction
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident disagrees with the author of a recent Lookout op-ed on the state of the city’s mayoral race.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Jimmy Panetta represents us well on the Central Coast
In a letter to the editor, Santa Cruz residents underline their support for Rep. Jimmy Panetta ahead of Tuesday’s primary election.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Democracy is well served in five-candidate Santa Cruz mayoral race
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident analyzes a recent Lookout op-ed on the city’s mayoral race.
